Court reinstates sacked Taraba PDP acting president

The Taraba State High Court sitting in Jalingo, the state capital, has ordered the immediate reinstatement of the ousted interim president of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Alhaji Inuwa Bakari.< /p>

The judgment which was presided over by Judge Nuhu Adi answered all the prayers of the party's reinstated acting chairman.

Bakari was deposed by former state governor Arc. Darius Dickson Ishaku, and replaced by Ishaku's former special adviser, Alhaji Abubakar Bawa.

Uncomfortable with the former governor's decision, Bakari asked the court to overturn Bawa's appointment because due process as enshrined in the party's constitution was not followed .

In the judgment, which lasted several hours, the judge who called Bawa's appointment "unconstitutional" ordered Bakari's immediate reinstatement.

While ordering Bakari to immediately resume his duties as acting party president, he asked Bawa to give up impersonating the party president.

Delighted by the judgment, Bakari, who promised to return to office as instructed by the court, urged party loyalists to remain calm and avoid actions that could trigger a crisis.

Also speaking, his attorney, Barrister John Okezie, praised the judge's efforts, saying he had inserted the right peg into the right hike.

The sacked president said he would have to rub shoulders with his lawyer before arriving at the next steps.

The ruling comes just days after the state government set up a committee to resolve the ongoing party leadership struggle.