July 29, (THEWILL) – The Supreme Court judgement that upheld the victory of Ondo State’s Governor Rotimi Akeredolu has caused an earthquake within the victorious All Progressives Congress (APC), as some stakeholders have declared that the interim Chairman of the party must go.
Pointing at the split 4-3 decision of the apex court, the agitators for the exit of Yobe State’s Governor Mai Mala Buni, say that the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress Caretaker Committee and Extraordinary National Convention (CECPC) and his team appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari to replace the Adams Oshiomhole-led National Executive, had rather turned into a liability for the party.
THEWILL gathered that the case had lent muscle to insiders who want Buni out but merely tolerated him out of deference to the President, who singlehandedly appointed him as ad hoc administrator of the party last year.
The majority ruling of the Supreme Court had knocked out the case of Barrister Eyitayo Jegede (SAN) on the basis that the Court of Appeal was right to have invalidated his petition for omitting to make Buni a party to the case in his personal capacity.
In a memo titled, “THE IMPLICATION OF THE SUPREME COURT JUDGMENT TODAY IN JEGEDE VS AKEREDOLU AS IT AFFECTS THE APC IS THAT THE PARTY MUST HALT ALL PREPARATIONS AND CONDUCT OF CONGRESSES NATIONWIDE FORTHWITH,” Minister of State for Labour and Employment, FESTUS KEYAMO (SAN), on Thursday pointed out: “The little technical point that saved Gov AKEREDOLU was that Jegede failed to join GOV. Mai Mala Buni in the suit.”
These views have the backing of an Abuja lawyer and party chieftain, Kayode Ajulo.
Keyamo pointed out that Jegede had challenged “the competence of Gov. Mai Mala Buni as a sitting Governor to run the affairs of the APC as Chairman of the Caretaker Committee. He contends that this is against Section 183 of the 1999 Constitution which states that a sitting Governor shall not, during the period when he holds office, hold any other executive office or paid employment in any capacity whatsoever. In other words, had Buni been joined in the suit, the story may have been different today as we would have lost Ondo State to the PDP.”
According to Keyamo’s memo, the Supra ruling portended danger for APC in future so long as Buni continued to wear two caps as Governor and party Chairman.
The Minister pointed out, “Any other person affected by the actions of the Buni-led Committee will henceforth not fail to join him in any subsequent case in court. These includes any subsequent election matter in any part of this country and all the APC Congresses that are about to hold.
“The Supreme Court has just weaponised all those that would be aggrieved by the APC Congresses to proceed to court to challenge the competence of the Buni-led CECPC to organise the Congresses and National Convention. The judiciary will subsequently destroy the entire structure of the Party from bottom to top. We are lucky the Supreme Court has just given us a great and useful hint to save our Party just before the beginning of our Congresses.”
To Keyamo called for the suspension of APC congresses planned to hold nationwide on Saturday.
He said, “The planned Congresses across the country slated for this weekend must immediately be suspended because it will be an exercise in futility as analysed above. The competence of Gov. Mai Mala Buni to organise the congresses has been called to question by the Supreme Court.”
He therefore called for the immediate sack of Buni.
The Minister submitted: “The NEC of the Party can URGENTLY meet and consider and reconstitute the CECPC to exclude, not only Gov. Buni, but anyone holding ANY executive position in any government establishment as stipulated in Article 17 of the APC Constitution.”
Although the party lacks a de jure National Chairman capable of summoning the party NEC in line with the party’s Constitution, Keyamo suggested that that lacuna could be circumvented by getting two-thirds of NEC members to sign an invitation to summon a NEC meeting to reconstitute the CECPC minus Buni and all other persons holding other public or party positions.
According to Keyamo, a second way out would be to get the trustees to tackle the issue.
Speaking similarly was an Abuja lawyer and party chieftain, Kayode Ajulo, who submitted that “the Acting Chairman of the All Progressives Congress should immediately step down as a stitch in time saves nine!”
Ajulo said: “My humble but cosmic review of the judgment comes with an indication that the Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni has to vacate his seat, as the Chairman of APC with immediate effect. The provision of Section 183 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) is clear and unambiguous to the effect that, ‘The Governor shall not, during the period when he holds office, hold any other executive office or paid employment in any capacity whatsoever.’”
Warning of danger looming for APC should Buni remain to lead the party, Ajujo warned, “The continuous stay of the Governor as Chief Executive Officer of the All Progressives Congress runs contrary to provision of the Constitution and as such may be an albatross on the party, as all he had done before would be null and void, including nomination of candidates within the period of his so called Leadership of the party.
“In lending my two cents, it is apposite to assuage and hint the leadership of the party by reminding same of the decision of Lord Denning of over 5 decades in the case MACFOY v. UAC LIMITED (1961) 3 ALL E.R where the Learned Jurist held that: “If an act is void, then it is in law a nullity. It is not only bad but incurably bad. There is no need for an order of court to set it aside.”
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