Former Spokesperson of the Labour Party presidential campaign, Kenneth Okonkwo, has criticized Samuel Anyanwu for refusing to step down as National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) despite a Court of Appeal ruling in favour of his opponent, Ude-Okoye.
Speaking in an interview with Channels TV from 6:20, Okonkwo pointed out that rather than vacating the position, Anyanwu is relying on a stay of execution to remain in office.
Both the High Court and the Court of Appeal in Enugu had ruled against Anyanwu, recognizing Ude-Okoye as the legitimate PDP National Secretary. However, Anyanwu later claimed to have obtained a stay of execution from the Court of Appeal in Abuja, halting the enforcement of the Enugu court’s ruling.
Okonkwo argued that this situation disregards the principle of balance of convenience in law. He stated that when courts consider granting applications, they must assess whether maintaining the status quo creates an unfair advantage.
He said in this case, allowing Anyanwu to stay in office while the Supreme Court reviews the matter would be unjust to Ude-Okoye, as the legal process could extend beyond the tenure of the position. He insisted that the rightful officeholder, as determined by the court, should assume the role unless a contrary ruling is issued.
He said, “A court has given decision, has given judgement, the first court has given judgement, the appellate court has given judgement, and you are still sitting there claiming stay of execution. There’s what we call balance of convenience in law. By the time you are talking about granting application to somebody, you have to check the balance of convenience.
“If you say the secretary that did not get judgement should remain in office, while the supreme court is considering it, it’s an injustice on the person that got judgement because, before the Supreme Court will finish, the tenure would have finished. The person that has judgement of a court, should take possession, pending if you go and get contrary judgement, because, the balance of convenience is in his favour.”
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