BAUCHI — THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bauchi State has dismissed reports that its structure has collapsed into the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), describing the claim as false and alleging that it was being spread by individuals impersonating party officials. The party’s Legal Adviser in the state, Yahaya Garkuwa, stated this on Tuesday at a press conference held at the PDP secretariat along Maiduguri Bypass, Bauchi.
Garkuwa said the PDP recognised by law in Bauchi State remained the faction led by Hon. Ibrahim Kashim Toro, while the national leadership was headed by Abdulrahman Mohammed.
He said the leadership dispute within the party had been the subject of several court cases, adding that successive judicial pronouncements had affirmed the leadership structure backed by the Bauchi PDP.
According to him, the Federal High Court affirmed the Abdulrahman Mohammed-led caretaker committee as the authentic national leadership of the party.
He said the faction led by Tanimu Turaki subsequently appealed the judgment, but the Court of Appeal upheld the leadership of Mohammed at the national level and that of Ibrahim Kashim Toro in Bauchi State.
“Dissatisfied with the decision, the Tanimu Turaki faction went to the Court of Appeal where the Appeal Court still confirmed the leadership of the PDP under Abdulrahman Mohammed, and in Bauchi State under Hon. Ibrahim’s leadership,” Garkuwa said.
He added that the matter was eventually taken to the Supreme Court, which, according to him, ruled in favour of the faction led by Mohammed.
“At the Supreme Court, judgment was given in our favour where the Supreme Court said the Tanimu Turaki faction is not known by law, that only the PDP under Abdulrahman Mohammed is known by law, while here in Bauchi State, the PDP known by law is the one under Honourable Ibrahim,” he said.
Garkuwa alleged that members of the rival faction had resorted to impersonation and the spread of what he described as false information after exhausting their legal options.
