A Federal High Court sitting in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, Ogun State, has struck out a suit filed by a factional Chairman of the Labour Party in the state, Biodun Owolabi over the parallel congresses conducted by the party recently.
Owolabi had sought the order of the court declaring illegal the Comrade Abayomi Arabambi-led faction of the party.
The court also struck out an injunction restraining the Arabambi faction and other defendants from opening a parallel state party secretariat or office of the LP in the state.
The internal crises rocking the party in Ogun State has broken the party into two factions, leading to a parallel congress held by both parties at different locations.
The plaintiffs, Chief Biodun Owolabi, Alhaji Ibrahim Babalola and Hon. Segun Oloye in suit number: FHC/AB/CS/10/2018, had averred that the court should declare null and void the state party parallel congress held by the Arabambi faction of the party.
Others also joined in the suit as co-defendants are the Independent National Electoral Commission, the Inspector General of Police, the Director General of the State Security Service; LP’s National Chairman, Alhaji Abdulkadir Abdulsalam; the state factional chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Sikirulahi Ogundele and six
others.
Counsel to the plaintiffs, Barrister Kehinde Bamiwola, argued that the congress that produced Arabambi and other executive members of his faction did not meet the conditions stipulated in the LP’s constitution before holding a parallel congress.
They stated that Arabambi and his state exco members held a parallel congress in the state with the intention of causing disruption, destabilisation and chaos within the national leadership of the party.
While praying the court to declare Arabambi and his state exco of the LP as illegal, the plaintiffs told the court that the members of the faction were not card-carrying members of the party.
Arabambi, in his sworn affidavit, told the court through his counsel, Barrister Monday Mawah, that he’s a bonafide, card-carrying member of LP in the state.
He argued that the plaintiffs were not members of the state chapter of LP, saying that he was duly elected as the state chairman of the party at its the congress, which had in attendance the party’s National Chairman, Abdulsalam as well as INEC officials.
Delivering judgement, Justice Ibrahim Watila, held that the 11th defendant, Ogundele, was not a member of LP but PDP and had no participatory right in the affairs of the first defendant, LP.
Watila, therefore, struck out the preliminary objection of the plaintiffs, saying that they were not card-carrying members of LP and had failed to exhaust the internal remedy mechanism of the party before bringing the case to the
court.
The judge held, “Without doubt that the 11th defendant, not being a member as rightly submitted by the plaintiffs, no cause of action will have been established as the 11th defendant is also not bound by the constitution of the plaintiffs, nor a card-carrying
member.
“I hold that the 11th defendant is not a necessary or desirable party in this suit and the 11th defendant’s name is here by struck out. The 11th defendant is a card-carrying member of PDP and is not a participatory member of the first defendant. The 11th defendant is not a member of the first defendant, but a political strategist.
