A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has declined an ex parte application filed by Edwin Woko, Nelson Dike, and two others seeking to restrain the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State, Aaron Chukwuemeka, and other members of the state executive from parading themselves as party leaders.
Presiding over the matter, Justice Stephen Jumbo refused to grant the ex parte motion and directed the plaintiffs to serve notice on Chukwuemeka, the PDP National Chairman, and other respondents.
The judge ordered the parties to appear before the court to justify why the motion should not be granted.
The case was adjourned to December 10, 2024, for a hearing on the substantive motion.
Speaking to journalists after the court session, counsel for the plaintiffs, Bruno Mbaeri, explained the legal basis of the application.
One of the plaintiffs, Edwin Woko, alleged in an interview with Newsmen that key PDP stakeholders in Rivers State had inaugurated an interim leadership structure on September 28, 2024, naming him as the leader.
The group, comprising Woko, Erien Naikachep Maurice, Nelson Ndubuisi, and Nyebuchi Dike, claimed to be the interim leaders until an inclusive congress is held, following the expiration of the tenure of the Chukwuemeka-led executive.
Woko further alleged that the congress that produced Chukwuemeka and his executive committee was conducted in violation of an existing court order, rendering their leadership illegitimate.
“Our application before Honorable Justice Jumbo is explicit. We are asking the court to restrain Aaron Chukwuemeka and his co-travelers from parading themselves as the executives of Rivers State PDP.
My own exco, led by me, is the authentic leadership of the PDP in Rivers State,” Woko stated.
He accused the Chukwuemeka-led executive of overstaying its four-year tenure and urged them to vacate office to pave the way for a new leadership.
InfoStride News recalls that the PDP in Rivers State went ahead with its congresses despite an interim injunction barring the conduct of such exercises.
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