Litigation is part and parcel of political process – Victor Yusufu Kwon

Why is the PDP joining in court case against General Buhari?The case against Buhari as you know, was filed by the concerned Nigerians acting under Section 31 of the Electoral Act, which gives any Nigerian right to file an action, to challenge any declarations that are made by a candidate of a political party in […]

Why is the PDP joining in court case against General Buhari?
The case against Buhari as you know, was filed by the concerned Nigerians acting under Section 31 of the Electoral Act, which gives any Nigerian right to file an action, to challenge any declarations that are made by a candidate of a political party in the INEC forms, if they believe that those declarations are not correct. So PDP as a political party has not joined in the case. It is a case by concerned Nigerians, who have the view that the candidate for APC had made statements in the INEC forms that were not true.
How many cases has the PDP won so far?
Generally, you find that it’s not usual for PDP as a party to file any suit in court, but in many cases what happens is that PDP is joined as a defendant, may be suits relating to the nomination process of the party or suits relating to the general elections, so if you say suits that PDP has won, if you have a case involving the party by which two members of the party tussle over the party’s ticket, it is an intra-party matter. However it goes, it is still victory for the party because the tussle is for the party’s nomination and all the parties are members of the PDP. But of course as you well know, not too long ago we got judgment in the petition brought by the APC challenging the election of Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State, those are the serious cases involving the PDP, but many of the cases involving the party usually relate to the nomination processes.
As the National Legal Adviser of the PDP, are you not bothered that the party is having too many cases in court?
No, you see the matter of litigation is part and parcel of the political process and the electoral process. Because, you see it is only natural that people who lose nominations will be aggrieved, you know it is natural and we do expect that they express or ventilate their grievances within the party but by and large, the Electoral Act has given all aspirants the right to challenge the nomination process; if the nomination was done in breach of the party guidelines or the electoral act or the party constitution. So its part and parcel of the political process, we’ll sort them out.
Is the PDP not worried about the large number of its members decamping to other parties?
Well you see, PDP is a large party and it is also natural following every nomination process. The unfortunate thing is that we have members who are aggrieved, who would want to try and get nomination from other parties. A few people have left the party but we have also gained some people too. So it’s like more or less a give and take situation. But yes, we would rather keep our members all intact but some of these things are inevitable because they will try to seek alternative platforms to realise their political ambitions. It happens to every large party not just PDP.
What is your reaction to Chief Obasanjo’s defection?
I am not aware that he has defected. Obasanjo is a much respected leader of the party and indeed it is a matter of worry that such a leader respected in the party can make a comment accredited to him. We expect that even if there are problems there are ways and means of addressing them at the level of leadership and that is what we expected he would have done.
So it’s a matter that I think all lovers of the country and the party will express some concern about, that a respected leader of the party with the rank of former president under the platform of the PDP, we’ll expect that he’ll do everything to build the party, to support the party and not the kind of statements credited to him.
Some aggrieved PDP aspirants claimed that there were no party primaries and threatened to sue the party claiming N15 billion, being money paid for their nomination forms, what is your reaction?
The claim that there were no primaries in the PDP is not only baseless but also uncharitable. The PDP conducted primaries before nominating candidates for all positions in the forthcoming general elections. INEC monitored the primaries upon being notified as required by the Electoral Act and the monitoring reports are available to the public. More than this, the Nigerian Police and other security agencies who also were present at the primaries have their reports available for public scrutiny.
The various Electoral Committees and Electoral Appeal Committees set by the National Secretariat who considered complaints arising from the exercise have also submitted reports which are available to the public. The PDP remains the best vehicle for the realisation of the political aspirations of all Nigerians and the epitome of democracy in Nigeria.