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Group faults Ogbulafor’s opposition to verdict on Plateau PDP crisis

By By Richard Abu
11 May 2010   |   1:27 pm
A GROUP, the Society for Rule of Law and Voter's Right, has condemned the move by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman, Vincent Ogbulafor, to prevent the enforcement of a Plateau State High Court ruling on the leadership crisis in the state chapter of the party.It said such disregard for a court of competent jurisdiction…
A GROUP, the Society for Rule of Law and Voter’s Right, has condemned the move by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman, Vincent Ogbulafor, to prevent the enforcement of a Plateau State High Court ruling on the leadership crisis in the state chapter of the party.

It said such disregard for a court of competent jurisdiction should be avoided as the country prepares for the 2011 polls.

In a statement made available to The Guardian yesterday, the Abuja-based group’s Co-ordinator, Angela Dike, queried why Ogbulafor should ask the police to grant the caretaker committee access to the PDP secretariat when a court had declared it illegal.

Dike expressed shock that Ogbulafor could ask the Inspector-General of Police, Ogbonna Onovo, to breach the law by declining to enforce the court verdict.

He said: “As the nation prepares for a general election in 2011, we should be cautious about how we tread the path of democracy and mindful of the major characters and how they contribute to the full achievement of total freedom of the entire democratic process.

“The recent court ruling in Jos, Plateau State, is an eye-opener to many of us. The High Court sitting in Jos a fortnight ago vacated Ogbulafor’s Caretaker Committee, which he set up to replace an elected State Executive Council of the PDP in the state. The elected PDP leadership has been led by Prof. Dakum Shown for over two years before Ogbulafor dissolved it but the court recently told him no.

“Desirous of accomplishing his undemocratic yearnings, Ogbulafor, through a letter last week, sought the IGP, Mr. Ogbonna Onovo’s, intervention to keep the Shown leadership from performing its duties while urging the police to protect the caretaker committee.

“But the IGP graciously declined. The letter, which was widely reported in the newspapers last week, is an evidence of the PDP chief’s disregard for rule of law. We are afraid that this character will attempt to use his power to muscle democracy as we enter another phase in our political history”, Dike said.

She urged President Goodluck Jonathan to investigate Ogbulafor over the famed letter, “which was intended to mock our judicial process. Ogbulafor’s letter simply tries to say ‘no’ even when the court said ‘yes. We commend the police for refusing to be intimidated by the PDP chairman. It shows that Nigerians and the country’s institutions are no more what some citizens want them to be”.

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