Leading constitutional lawyer, Chief Ferdinand Orbih, SAN, has faulted the assertions of the Edo State Government for the abduction of his female lawyer from the Court of Appeal, Benin, in a move he said was to frustrate justice sought by elected delegates of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to assert their mandates.
Orbih spoke against the background of the judgment of the Court of Appeal which reprimanded a judge of the High Court for hearing and giving judgment in the issue of the election of delegates of the PDP while the issue was on appeal.
The thugs, believed to have been politically sponsored, were reported to have invaded the Appeal Court late on Friday to frustrate the appeals filed by the mainstream PDP in Edo State.
Governor Godwin Obaseki is reportedly engaged in a battle of wits and grits with the mainstream PDP in the state led by the National Vice Chairman, South-South, Chief Dan Orbih over the control of the structure of the party.
The Edo State Government had, in response to the abduction of the female lawyer last week, in a statement on Sunday any role or knowledge of the reported brigandage that led to the abduction of the lawyer from Ferdinand Orbih’s chamber.
Responding to the assertions by the State Government in a statement made available to GWGNG, Orbih, SAN, said: “This Statement is most unfortunate and sad. The attack was carried out by State Actors and one of my lawyers was abducted. And I issued and signed a Statement to that effect. I WILL NOT say what I cannot prove. My lawyer’s life was in grave danger. Her escape was miraculous.
“All our court processes were seized and destroyed by State Officials. Court officials had to run for their dear lives. All this was done to frustrate the further prosecution of our Appeal. I seize this opportunity to thank the Chairman of the NBA Benin Branch, who promptly and appropriately condemned the attack on the Court of Appeal.
“It took the Government more than 48 hours after the occurrence of the incident to issue this extremely provocative Statement.
“We stand by our earlier statement to the effect that the attack was perpetrated by State actors,” Orbih, SAN said in his reaction to the abduction of his female lawyer by the thugs who reportedly forced official documents from her.”
Dan Orbih, who managed the election that brought Obaseki to power in 2020, had with the mainstream PDP, fallen out with the governor over the election of delegates.
The mainstream PDP represented by the State Working Committee, SWC, had recently deprecated the development calling on the national headquarters not to give heed to any delegate list that was not sanctioned by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, officials. (GWGNG with slight edits)
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