The Federal High Court in Abuja, has deferred hearing of a suit seeking to remove the National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Abdullahi Ganduje, from office, till July 5.
Justice Inyang Ekwo, adjourned to allow the litigants to respond to a counter-affidavit the embattled APC National Chairman filed to challenge the competence of the suit.
When the case was called up for hearing on Wednesday, counsel for the plaintiffs, Benjamin Davou, told the court that he would need time to respond to the fresh process that was served on him by Ganduje’s lawyer.
Davou requested for an adjournment, which was not opposed by counsel for the APC National Chairman, Raymond Asikeni, SAN. Justice Ekwo however adjourned the matter for hearing.
The suit, was brought before the court by aggrieved members of the party under the platform of North-Central APC Forum, querying the propriety of Ganduje’s appointment as the Chairman of the APC from the North-West.
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They, among other things, want the court to restrain Ganduje from further parading himself as the National Chairman of the party, praying the court to issue an order, directing the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, not to accord recognition to all actions taken by the APC, including congresses, primaries and nominations, since he became APC Chairman on August 3, 2023.
The plaintiffs are saying that Ganduje is occupying the office of the APC National Chairman illegally, not being from a state in the North-Central geo-political zone.
They argued that the National Executive Committee, NEC of the APC acted in breach of the party’s constitution, when it appointed Ganduje, from Kano State in the North-West geo- political zone, to replace Senator Abdullahi Adamu who is from Nasarawa State in the North-Central geo-political zone.
They want the court to among other things, declare that by Article 20(1) of the APC Constitution 2013, as amended, Ganduje, could not be appointed as the National Chairman of the party other than through a democratically conducted election and that his current occupation of the office is illegal.
The plaintiffs also want a declaration that the party’s NEC lacked the power to appoint any person to the office of the National Chairman.
The defendants in the matter are the APC and INEC.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
