The national working committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has withdrew all appeals filed by the Rivers State chapter of the party against opposition political parties in the state.

The counsel to the national leadership of the PDP, Johnson Usman, revealed this through a motion he filed to stop the suit on behalf of the party’s national legal adviser, Emmanuel Enoidem. When the matter came up before the Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt, counsel to Accord Party, Abdullahi Muhammad, informed the court about a notice of discontinuation of the matter by the PDP which was verified by the PDP State legal adviser, Kingsley Chukwu.

After listening to the parties, the three-man panel led by Hon Justice Joseph Ikyegh, laid off the appeals against Accord Party and the All Progressives Congress (APC) as well as other parties in the state following Muhammad’s request. Speaking to newsmen outside the courtroom, counsel to Accord Party and that of all the candidates of Accord Party, Abiodun Owonikoko explained what transpired in court and why they asked the court to dismiss the suit rather than striking it out. Recall that the national leadership of PDP had on Monday, through a letter from the national legal adviser who was represented by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Johnson Usman took over the prosecution of the matters, indicating that they never sent anyone to file a suit on their behalf.

Ada Peter