By Ayodele Fayose, a former governor of the state of Ekiti, has threatened to sue the People’s Democratic Party over its decision to suspend him.
Fayose’s suspension was overturned, but he maintained that it was unjustified and done to damage his reputation. He called it “libelous and slanderous.”
Akinwale Kol-Taiwo, Fayose’s attorney, sent the following in a letter dated March 31 and addressed to Iliya Damagum, the PDP’s acting national chairman:
The letter states, “We are further informed by our client that by the letter dated 24th March 2023, the reversal of our client’s suspension from the Peoples Democratic Party was requested. This suspension was done without recourse to laid down procedure/due process of law as contained in the Peoples Democratic Party constitution (as amended in 2017).”
“The Peoples Democratic Party overturned the suspension of our client by issuing a press statement on March 30, 2023, through the office of the national publicity secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, retracing its steps and implicitly confirming the content of the letter dated 24th March 2023.
“The aforementioned libelous news statement was intended to defame and ruin our client’s excellent reputation in the eyes of right-thinking members of society, as well as to subject our client to contempt, mockery, and public opprobrium in front of his political associates and the broader public.
While we do not dispute that the Peoples Democratic Party has the authority to discipline any disloyal members, it is more important to note that this authority is not unlimited and is instead confined to the principles of fair hearing as outlined in the Peoples Democratic Party Constitution (as amended in 2017) and the Federal Republic of Nigeria Constitution (1999). As a result, it’s important that using your disciplinary powers doesn’t appear to violate anyone else’s rights.
“There is no question that the national working committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (NWC) acted hastily on erroneous and unsubstantiated claims in this claimed suspension drama, making our party — the Peoples Democratic Party — look weak and disorganized.”
Kol-Taiwo stated that he will file a lawsuit against the PDP if the party does not apologize to Fayose within 72 hours of receiving the letter.
