Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has excused a suit looking to evict Abdullahi Ganduje as the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The suit instituted against Ganduje by the APC North Central Group was excused by the Judge on various grounds.
Justice Ekwo held that the APC North Central Group is not a juristic individual and not enrolled in law and therefore has no legal backing and capacity to file the suit.
The Judge likewise held that the plaintiff neglected to explore the internal mechanism for peaceful resolution of issues before hurrying to the court.
Justice Ekwo additionally held that the appointment of officers for APC by its National Executive Committee (NEC) is an internal undertaking of the party, which no court can meddle with.
The Northern Central APC Group had hauled Ganduje, APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before the court, petitioning for the invalidation of appointment of Ganduje by APC on the ground of gross infringement of the party’s Constitution.
Particularly, the North Central APC group guaranteed that the appointment of Ganduje breached Article 13 of the APC Constitution because it was not carried out through a democratic process stipulated in the party’s law.
The plaintiff, the North Central APC Forum led by Saleh Zazzaga, had filed the suit to question the respectability of Ganduje’s appointment as the National Chairman of the APC when he is not from the North Central geopolitical zone, whose turn was to fill the position.
The plaintiff in the suit, requested the court to, among others, restrain Ganduje from further showcasing himself as the chairman of the APC.
It likewise prayed the court to issue an order ordering INEC not to accord acknowledgment to all moves initiated by the APC, including congresses, primaries and nominations, since Ganduje became APC Chairman on August 3, 2023.
