September 23, (THEWILL) – The Federal High Court, Abuja, has dismissed a suit seeking the removal of Abdullahi Ganduje, as the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Northern Central APC Group had dragged Ganduje, APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to court praying for nullification of the appointment of Ganduje by APC on the ground of gross violations of the party’s Constitution.
Led by Saleh Zazzaga, the Group had filed the suit to query the propriety of Ganduje’s appointment as the National Chairman of the APC when he is not from the North Central geo-political zone, whose turn it was to fill the position.
Contending that the appointment of Ganduje breached Article 13 of the APC Constitution, the plaintiff argued that the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the APC breached the party’s Constitution when it appointed Ganduje, from Kano State in the North West geo-political zone to replace Abdullahi Adamu from Nasarawa State in the North Central geo-political zone.
The group also argued that Ganduje’s appointment to replace Abdullahi was contrary to Article 13.5(1) f of the APC Constitution and ultra-vires the powers of the NEC of the party.
The group, therefore, prayed the court to, among others, restrain Ganduje from further parading himself as the national chairman of the APC. It also prayed the court to issue an order directing INEC not to accord recognition to all actions taken by the APC, including congresses, primaries and nominations, since Ganduje became APC’s national Chairman on August 3, 2023.
Marked FHC/ABJ/CS/599/2024, the suit had Ganduje, the APC and INEC as the 1st to the 3rd defendants respectively.
Ruling on Monday, Justice Inyang Ekwo, dismissed the suit and held that the appointment of officers for APC by its National Executive Committee (NEC) is an internal affair of the party which no court can dabble into.
The court further held that the APC North Central Group is not a juristic person having not been registered in law and therefore has no legal power and capacity to file the suit, adding that the plaintiff failed to explore the party’s internal mechanism for peaceful resolution of issues before rushing to court.
