AS the crisis rocking the Ogun State chapter of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rages on, the presidential campaign rally of the party slated for the state on Thursday has reportedly been postponed indefinitely. Two factions, one believed to be loyal to former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, and the other believed to be loyal to Governor Gbenga Daniel, had been at each other’s throat over the soul of the party for a very long time now, leading to both factions producing two different candidates’ lists in the forthcoming general election.

The Nigerian Tribune  had, on Monday, reported exclusively the plans by the two factions to hold parallel presidential rallies for President Jonathan in Abeokuta at the same venue, at the same time and on the same day.

An informed source close to the party’s Presidential Campaign Committee (PCC), said that the postponement of the presidential rally became necessary in order to avoid possible public embarrassment to President Jonathan and the party should the rallies be held as scheduled since both factions had refused to resolve their differences amicably despite the personal intervention of the president and other party chieftains.

“We have no option, but to cancel the presidential rally. We don’t want any embarrassment for Mr President and our great party; Ogun State is very dear to us; we will resolve the crisis soon,” the source declared.

The source said the rally would, however, be held immediately the court delivered its ruling over the pending litigation between the two factions.

Nigerian Tribune also learnt that a meeting between the warring factions and the national leadership of the party with President Jonathan presiding would be held after today’s presidential rally in Lagos.

“We cannot continue to fold our arms over this lingering crisis. The stakeholders in Ogun PDP are meeting tomorrow in Lagos after the presidential rally. The president will be in attendance; we must get a solution to the crisis, we will find a political solution to it in the interest of all,”the source stated.

It, however, hinted that the rally might be held  on Thursday as scheduled, if the crisis was resolved and all the parties concerned agreed to work together.

The rally had earlier been slated for tomorrow, but had to be shifted to Thursday, to see whether they would be able to resolve their differences.

Speaking with Chief Soremi on Monday, during a telephone interview, he said he was not aware of the postponement, adding that “we are going on with our preparations for the presidential rally. As I said earlier, no cause for alarm.”

When contacted, Chief Fadairo’s aide, who answered his cell phone, said “sorry, chief is in a meeting now; he will call you back, please.”

However, when contacted, the Director of Media and Publicity, PPC of the party, Mallam Abba Dabo, said it was true but could not give details and asked the Nigerian Tribune to call him back to enable him to get more details, however, attempts to reach him as promised were not successful.

Meanwhile, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Monday, struck out an application brought by Chief Daniel’s faction of the PDP in the state, seeking to vacate an interim order restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising the nomination of its factional gubernatorial candidate, Gboyega Nasir Isiaka.

Justice Abdul Kafarati threw out the application, following the withdrawal of same by counsel for the Daniel faction, Lateef Fagbemi.

The judge also fixed today for hearing in the substantive suit brought by the faction loyal to former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, seeking an order of the court voiding the legitimacy of the Joju Fadairo-led executive.

The Obasanjo faction also withdrew a contempt application brought against the Daniel faction for campaigning, despite the court order which did not recognise the candidates of the faction.

This came as another Federal High Court in Abuja, headed by Justice Gabriel Kolawole, upheld the nomination of Governor Theodore Orji as the PDP gubernatorial candidate for Abia State.

Kolawole dismissed a suit brought by an aspirant, Ikechi Emenike, challenging Orji’s nomination, describing it as unmeritorious.

An ex parte application brought by the Obasanjo faction which found favour with Justice Kafarati led to the INEC’s recognition of Chief Adetunji Olurin of the Obasanjo faction as the PDP gubernatorial candidate for Ogun State.

Daniel’s faction had made two unsuccessful attempts to have the order vacated, before it was ultimately struck out on Monday.

When the matter came up on Monday, the court had asked that the application for contempt be moved, but the counsel for Daniel’s faction, Fagbemi, argued that such would delay the hearing of the substantive suit.

He, therefore, withdrew all the pending applications in order for the court to settle down to hear the substantive suit.

Counsel for Obasanjo’s faction, Chief Olagoke Fakunle, had earlier argued that the contempt appli-cation should be heard first, notwithstanding other applications that had been filed, adding that after the restraining order was made by the court, the state factional chairman of the party, Chief Fadairo, made uncomplimentary statements about the court.

On the other hand, counsel for the PDP,  Fagbemi,  had  argued that the court should hear the application to vacate the order first, on the grounds that the court did not have original jurisdiction to hear the case.

He further argued that “the plaintiffs misrepresen-ted facts to the court that the Chief Fadairo-led executive committee of the PDP in the state had been dissolved when, to the knowledge of the plaintiffs, there was no such dissolution, adding that the court was also misled that there was harmonised executive com-mittee of the party in the state, led by one Chief Dayo Soremi, when no such committee existed.”

Justice Kolawole, while delivering judgment in the Abia suit, held that the PDP had the power to forward the name of its candidate to INEC, adding that the faction that produced Emenike had earlier been dissolved and, thus, had no locus standi to conduct any primary.

He further held that the state arm of the party did not have any power to conduct primary without the consent of the PDP National Executive Council (NEC), adding that it was the faction that produced Orji that had the consent of the national PDP.

Emenike had earlier approached the court, seeking an order stopping the INEC from recognising Governor Orji as the PDP gubernatorial candidate in the state.

Meanwhile, Emenike has said he will appeal the judgment of the court.

In another development, the Court of Appeal sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Monday, struck out an application challenging an order of the Federal High Court over the presentation of the state governor, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala, as the candidate of the PDP in the April election.

The justices, Stanley, Sidi Bage and Joseph Ikyegh, in their unanimous decision, after listening to the parties, struck out the case and awarded N20,000 cost in favour of the governor and the PDP.

This was sequel to the withdrawal of the application by the lead counsel for the appellant, Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredo-lu, who informed that events had overtaken the suit.

Three governorship aspirants of the party, Alhaji Hazeem Gbolarumi, Wole Oyelese and Alhaji Yekeen Adeojo, who later withdrawn from the case, as well as 34 others, had dragged Governor Alao-Akala and the party to the appellate court, over a decision to vacate an earlier order which restrained INEC from listing the governor as the candidate of the party.

Alhaji Adeojo had, last week, withdrawn from the case.

He argued that since the presiding judge at the Federal High Court had adjourned hearing in the case indefinitely, there was no need for the matter to be heard at the appeal court again.

He also informed the court that the state governor was no more a party in the case.

Though counsel for INEC, Chief Mobolaji Ayorinde and the counself for the governor, Chief Richard Akinjide, did not oppose the withdrawal, they urged the court to award cost against the appellants.

They also opposed the claim by Mr Akeredolu that the governor was no more a party to the case.

Chief Akinjide told the court that since the matter had not been heard at the lower court, his client remained party in the suit.

According to him, the lower court did not do anything as regards the involvement of his client in the suit before adjourning indefinitely and nothing was done.

“We are still party. Technically, we are still party in the case, both at the lower and appeal courts,” he said.

He, therefore, urged the court not to strike out the case, but to dismiss it.

In their ruling, the justices unanimously struck out the case and awarded N10,000 each in favour of the respondents.

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