Sheriff’s faction is illegal, appeal court rules
November 23
16:33
2016
The court of appeal has upheld the caretaker committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) under the leadership of Ahmed Makarfi, describing the faction led by Ali Modu Sheriff as illegal.
In a judgement on Wednesday, the panel of judges led by Ibrahim Saulawa, set aside the ruling of Okon Abang, a judge of the federal high court Abuja, who declared Makarfi’s faction as “illegal”.
In a ruling on June 29, Abang ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to recognise any candidate from the Markafi faction.
The judge held that there were two subsisting court orders which recognised Ali Modu Sheriff-led PDP as the authentic representation of the party.
He said that the Makarfi faction only ran to get another ruling after two orders that favoured Sheriff had been given by the court.
However at the appellate court on Wednesday, the three-man panel of judges, while setting aside the judgement described Abang’s ruling as “displaced, most troubling decision of the lower court.”
“It is a gross abuse of section 36 (1) of the constitution, particularly the right to fair hearing,” the panel of judges held.
The panel of judges said while it was unfair that the Makarfi faction of the PDP was not heard at the lower court, the judge did not have the grounds to which he made his ruling on.
Furthermore, the judges said “what was done at the lower court was a charade and a fraud”.
The Makarfi-led faction was recognised by the law and consequently, INEC, at the Edo state gubernatorial election, and most recently, for the Ondo governorship election.
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