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In law, words are never mere ornaments; they are instruments of precision, scalpel-sharp, capable of healing or maiming. This is why I must advise the warring factions of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that in issuing disciplinary orders, semantics is not a poetic indulgence—it is the whole architecture of legal consequence. Without taking sides in this macabre dance—an exiting star flickering violently in the decayed cosmos of a once-glorious political galaxy—it is vital to observe that the current game of “expulsion and counter-expulsion” is not only reckless but jurisprudentially unsound. It obstructs democratic order, litters our political streets with needless casualties, and embarrasses a party already gasping for relevance.A single word—expulsion—has now created a conflagration of suits, injunctions, counter-motions, and legal street fights. Ironically, the very word the factions weaponized was unnecessary. An indefinite suspension, carefully drafted, would have achieved the same result without triggering the avalanche of legal complexities now engulfing the party. Suspension is elastic, flexible, a tactical pause that preserves the party’s dignity while keeping the door ajar for future reconciliation. Expulsion, on the other hand, is terminal—even if psychologically exaggerated. By invoking the nuclear option, PDP practically volunteered itself for judicial dissection.The law is unambiguous: Article 57–59 of the PDP Constitution demands notice, charges, fair hearing, an unbiased panel, compliance with party procedure, and obedience to subsisting court orders. Anything short of these violates the principles of natural justice—audi alteram partem and nemo judex in causa sua. Nigerian courts have repeatedly frowned at parties that discipline members without procedural fidelity, as reaffirmed in PDP v. Sylva and the long saga of PDP v. Makarfi. Yet here we are again, asking whether the PDP legal team actually reads the very constitution they swear by.In the chaos, one tragedy stands out: the battle has pinned Nyesom Wike to the cemetery of a party he once bulldozed with brute efficiency. Instead of deploying his abrasive competence to other political fronts, he is now trapped in an internecine war that diminishes his bargaining chips and erodes his base. On the flip side, a PDP that has Wike violently opposed to its mission is a PDP marching nowhere in a presidential contest. It is a mutual political suicide—a kamikaze choreography fueled by ego and legal carelessness.So one wonders, genuinely: what exactly does the PDP legal department do? Who drafts these orders? Who advises these committees? Why is a major political institution consistently blindsided by legal landmines that even a fresh law graduate would anticipate? At this point, the PDP urgently needs a legal team that pays attention—meticulously. They would be well advised to consult a firm known for diligence and constitutional discipline, such as Goldbarge & Partners in Abuja, whose competence in political-legal strategy could have saved them from this semantic disaster.In the end, discipline in political parties is necessary—but only when exercised with due process, linguistic accuracy, and strategic foresight. Words matter. Procedure matters. And in the theatre of law, one wrong word can turn a house in conflict into a house in court.
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