A Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt has issued an interim injunction preventing the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its suspended National Vice Chairman for the South-South, Dan Orbih, from holding the party’s South-South Zonal Congress in Calabar, Cross River State, on Saturday, February 22, 2025.
Justice G.V. Obomanu ruled in favor of the claimants after their lawyer, Emeka D.A. Ojoko, presented their case.
The court ordered the PDP and Orbih, along with their agents and representatives, to halt any preparations for the congress until the hearing and resolution of the Motion on Notice for an Interlocutory Injunction.
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The court also instructed all parties to maintain the status quo as it stood on February 20, 2025, pending further legal proceedings.
Additionally, the claimants were granted permission to serve legal documents to the PDP and Orbih through alternative methods, including posting notices at the South-South Zonal Headquarters in Port Harcourt and publishing the notice in a widely circulated national newspaper.
The case has been adjourned to February 28, 2025, for a hearing on the Motion on Notice.
This ruling temporarily halts the PDP’s internal electoral process in the South-South region, raising concerns about the party’s leadership structure in the zone.
Mr. Friday Nkor, one of the claimants, confirmed to Channels Television that he filed the case, stating, “There were statements from the National Executive of our party directing that the South-South Zonal Congress should not hold tomorrow, February 22, 2025, so we went to court to ensure there’s no disobedience of that.”
He further clarified, “We are not against the Congress holding, but only the North-East and South-East Congresses have been approved at this time. I must also emphasize that this is purely a party matter and not related to Governor Fubara or the FCT Minister.”