Oyinlola loses bid to reverse sacking

The sacked National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, on Wednesday lost his bid to return to office as an Abuja Federal High Court dismissed his application to stay the execution of the judgment which removed him from office. The Abuja FHC, presided by Justice Abdul Kafarati, had on January 11, 2013, in its judgment in the substantive suit filed by the Ogun State Chapter of the PDP, held that Oyinlola was not fit to occupy the position of National Secretary of the party after a Lagos FHC cancelled the zonal congresses through which he emerged.
PDP had immediately moved to comply with the judgment by removing Oyinlola from office Oyinlola appealed the judgment, and subsequently approached the Abuja FHC with an application for stay of execution of the January 11 order which sacked him from office.
PDP had opposed Oyinlola’s application, arguing that the January 11 judgment, which Oyinlola applied for a stay of execution, was belated because he had since been removed from office, as ordered by the court.
Ruling on the matter on Wednesday, Justice Kafarati held that the January 11, 2013 judgment, which sacked Oyinlola, was a declaratory order, which could not be stayed.
He also upheld PDP’s argument that there was nothing to stay, as the judgment had already been complied with.
In his ruling, Justice Kafarati said, “The judgment of 11 January 2013 is declaratory in nature – a declaratory judgment is not capable of being stayed.
“It is not every ruling or judgment of the court that can be stayed. The judgment of 11 January 2013, being declaratory, cannot be stayed.
“Order 4 had already been executed as the applicant (Oyinlola) had already been removed from office as the National Secretary of the PDP.
“There is nothing to stay – the application for stay of execution lacks merit and is hereby dismissed.”
Oyinlola had, through his counsel, Chief Awa Kalu, SAN, urged the court to return him to office.
He argued that the court did not ask the PDP to enforce the January 11 judgment by removing him from office.
“The court did not make any order for the benefit of the second defendant (PDP), nor did it direct them to do anything, so it is erroneous for them to say that they executed it.
“The court only said the first defendant (Oyinlola) has been removed, but it did not ask the second defendant to remove him,” Kalu said.
However, PDP maintained that its decision to immediately remove Oyinlola as its national secretary was in line with the judgment.