Anthony Ehilebo, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) aligned with embattled national chairman Kabiru Turaki, has stressed that the party belongs to all its members, urging public institutions to work toward restoring citizens’ trust.
Ehilebo made the comments in an interview with Arise News on Monday, discussing the recent Court of Appeal ruling on internal PDP matters.
“I don’t belong to the Turaki faction. I belong to what I believe is PDP. PDP doesn’t belong to one man. PDP belongs to all of us,” he said, stressing the need for unity within the party.
Reflecting on the broader implications of the court judgment, he added, “I really did scenario mapping just before the judgments came out.
”We see a majority of Nigerians have lost confidence in outcomes and judicial processes because a string of incidents in recent weeks has shown we have a lot of work to do to regain the confidence of Nigerians in our public institutions.”
Ehilebo noted that the Appeal Court ruling is still subject to further appeal.
“Well, the court has said the convention and all that… that’s the appeal court.
”They’re still subject to appeal. And that’s why you have higher courts which will interpret this. Even if they don’t interpret it, the party is still intact,” he assured.
Dismissing claims that PDP’s legal difficulties were due to incompetence, Ehilebo attributed the problems to internal saboteurs.
“When you have fifth columnists, what they do is place landmines for the party to fall and stumble… PDP has the most evolved directory of mobilisation headed by a very young man called Yemi, brilliant.
”Months before, Yemi sends out notices,” he said.
He further revealed that the PDP plans to take the legal battle to the Supreme Court for further deliberation.
“It’s already instructed. There was a statement released this evening where they had instructed the lawyers to approach the Supreme Court, while the organs of the party which is the BOT—is untouched,” Ehilebo said.
Clarifying the court’s position, he stressed that it did not recognise any faction as the “authentic PDP,” but merely upheld the existing Federal High Court judgment.
“The court didn’t say they’re the authentic. They upheld the judgment of the subsisting judgment of the Federal High Court,” he said.
