The Federal High Court sitting in Jos, the Plateau State capital has fixed June 6 for hearing on a suit challenging the status of former governor of the state, Joshua Dariye, as a bonafide member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. The motion for notice to be served on Dariye, which has already been granted by the court is pursuant to a suit brought before it by some PDP chieftains who are claiming that Dariye is not a PDP member. Dariye, PDP and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC as co-defendants in the suit no FHC/J/M/106/2 will explain if Dariye indeed was a bona fide member of the PDP especially as at the time of the party's National Assembly primaries in December last year. In the suit brought in consot with Order 6, Rule 17(1) of the Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules 2009, the plaintiff, Nde Alexander Molwus, is contending that the second respondent, Senator Dariye, is a serving senator representing Plateau Central senatorial zone on the platform of the Labour Party, LP, and also an aspirant who participated in the National Assembly primaries of the PDP. Molwus, a card carrying member of the PDP, participated in the said PDP primary of December 7, 2014 with Emmanuel Goar and Sati Gogwim as the other candidates, also contends further that by the electoral guidelines for primary elections of the first defendant, PDP, only a registered member of the party whose name is on the register of the party is qualified to contest the election. He charged further that the second respondent, Dariye, having not resigned his membership of the LP, was not a member of the PDP, as his name was not in the party register, and was not qualified to contest the primary election of the party. He said Dariye’s application for re-admission into the PDP, dated April 7, 2014 and addressed to the Plateau State PDP chairman breached several party traditions and procedures, adding that the application did not succeed before the conduct of the primary.
