Ebonyi PDP crisis: Lawyers protest judiciary’s delay of appeal

About 20 lawyers in Ebonyi Friday stormed the high court in Abakaliki to protest the alleged delay by officials of the court to transmit the records of appeal filed over the dissolution of the State Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The working committee led by Barrister Onyekachi Nwebonyi has been challenging the caretaker committee led by Hon. Fred Udogu following the former’s removal after the defection of Governor Dave Umahi to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Nwebonyi brought the suit against the National Working Committee (NWC) and the Caretaker Committee of the party to the court late last year where he was granted an order restricting the caretaker committee from functioning.

Also, in a letter written to the Chief Judge of the state by the caretaker chairman, Udogu, after the preliminary ruling on December 21, 2020, he said the Notice of Appeal filed by his counsel, Ken Njemanze (SAN) seeking for motion for stay of proceedings at the high court, has not been processed.

Udogu in the letter dated January 6^th, 2021 blamed this on the high court’s failure to transmit records of the proceedings to the Court of Appeal, Enugu Division.

“Finally, we implore you to use your good offices to call the HOD Appeal to order and prevail on him to transmit our records between today and Wednesday the 6^th of January, 2021 and tomorrow Thursday, failure which we shall be compelled to make report to the appropriate quarters,” the letter reads.