The former governor of Bauchi State, Sule Lamido, was barred from attending the Ibadan National Convention that resulted in the Kabiru Turaki-led National Working Committee (NWC), according to Umar Sani, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), because he did not follow the proper procedures to obtain the form for the chairmanship position.
Recall that Lamido had appealed the National Convention’s decision to the Federal High Court in Abuja.
In order to run for the party’s national leadership, Lamido claimed the court that he was not permitted to exercise his fundamental rights.
But in an appearance with Arise Television’s Morning Show, Sani claimed Lamido only expressed interest in running for the job on the day the applications were due.
Sani claims that Lamido also purchased the form at Wadata House rather than the Legacy House, the party’s annex.
Sani emphasized that the party believed the court had made a mistake by ignoring them.
“These are the issues we are trying to formulate to the Supreme Court, if necessary, that some of these things and some of the arguments we have put forward to the Court of Appeal were not taken into consideration by the Court of Appeal,” he stated.
“They failed to consider the merits of our case and the reasons behind our choices in the Sule Lamido case. It is evident that Lamido arrived to purchase forms on the day that the completed forms were supposed to be returned, and the party had already arranged for the sale of forms under the Convention Planning Committee, whose headquarters were located in the Legacy House, our other office.
On the last day to submit applications, Lamido went to Wadata Plaza to buy a form. Even with that argument, we believed that the court had made a mistake by not paying attention to what we had to say.
“You know, the court did not rule that we shouldn’t proceed with the convention even at that point. They suggested that we set up a room so that Lamido could attend the convention. Therefore, we felt that allowing him to participate when he hasn’t even received a form goes against the party’s constitution and standing rules. The court has stated that all decisions should be based on our constitution, but it ignores this crucial component.
“Therefore, we believed that the Supreme Court should decide these matters.”
