PDP National Convention Is Illegal, Gulak Claims

The former Political Adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Mr Ahmed Gulak, has described as illegal, the National Convention held by the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Mr Gulak made the declaration on Sunday’s Politics where he noted that Saturday’s convention was not held in line with the PDP constitution.

“First and foremost, the party cannot be run by common sense, experience or by the powers that be. The party must be run in accordance with the provision of the constitution.

“Chapter 33 of the party’s constitution only mandates the Chairman to surmount and preside over the convention while Chapter 35 gives the National Convention powers to elect the new officers under the chairmanship or presided over by the national chairman,” he stated.

Violation of Court Orders

Claiming that Senator Ali-Modu Sheriff was still the present Chairman of the party, Mr Gulak said that the former Borno State Governor was slammed with a court order by Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court in Lagos and another by Justice A.B. Mahmud of the FCT High Court, which made it illegal for such convention to hold.

“These two orders prevented the PDP and any of its officers from conducting convention to elect its first three officers that is the secretary, chairman and the auditor (and) while another order by the Abuja High Court, prevented the party from electing 18 officers including all the NWC.

“With these orders still valid and subsisting, no reasonable law abiding party officer will go ahead in violation of these court orders,” he said.

The former President’s aide explained that that was why the former PDP Chairman in the early hours of Saturday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State’s capital, convened a meeting with some of the members of the PDP National Working Committee (NWC), where they resolved that the convention was illegal.

He said Senator Sheriff subsequently issued a press conference to suspend the convention until the issues of the court judgments and orders were sorted out.

Despite Senator Sheriff’s suspension of the convention, some members of the party insisted that the convention must be held as planned.

They further removed the Chairman and set up a working committee.

CHANNELS