Justice Inyang Ekwo of 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 suit instituted against Ganduje by the APC North Central Group was dismissed by the Judge on various grounds.
Justice Ekwo held that the APC North Central Group is not a juristic person and not registered in law and therefore has no legal power and capacity to file the suit.
The Judge also held that the plaintiff failed to explore the internal mechanism for peaceful resolution of issues before rushing to the court.
Justice Ekwo further held that the appointment of officers for APC by its National Executive Committee is an internal affair of the party which no court can dabble into.
The Northern Central APC Group had dragged Ganduje, APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before the court praying for the nullification of appointment of Ganduje by APC on the ground of gross violations of the party’s Constitution.
Specifically, the North Central APC group claimed that the appointment of Ganduje breached Article 13 of the APC Constitution because it was not done through a democratic process enshrined in the party’s law.
The plaintiff, the North Central APC Forum led by Saleh Zazzaga, 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 was to fill the position.
The plaintiff in the suit, asked the court to, among others, restrain Ganduje from further parading himself as the 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 Chairman on August 3, 2023.