The Court may have saved the APC from embarrassment that would have resulted from the National Convention not taking place.
By Emma Ogbuehi
A High Court in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Friday vacated an order stopping the National Convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) slated for March 26.
Justice Bello Kawu gave the judgment, arguing that a political party cannot be sued by its member.
The judge relied on a recent Supreme Court judgment (Aguma Vs APC), to conclude his ruling.
The ruling followed the twists in the leadership of the ruling party as it plans for the convention.
APC members have of late been enmeshed in a fierce battle for the soul of the party as they seek or position their candidates for elective offices during the convention scheduled for March 26 in Abuja.
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Because of the confusion, the party had twice, fixed date for its national convention. The first date was February 26, before settling for March 26. Even the new date remained shaky when some members of the party moved against Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni, as national chairman of the APC Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC).
In retaliation, Buni, secured a court injunction, preventing the convention from holding.
Still bent of kicking out Buni, Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State announced that 19 state governors in the party had endorsed his removal and support for Governor Abubakar Bello of Niger State, as the CECC chairman.
El-Rufai accused Buni of taking some actions that constituted a threat to the planned convention and party cohesion.
He cited the court order obtained by an aggrieved party member to stop the convention but which Buni allegedly kept away from other party members and did nothing to vacate it. El-Rufai claimed that the governors had the support of President Buhari in their action.
The move by the northern governors resulted to leadership tussle with Governor Bello announcing himself as the National Chairman of the APC of the Caretaker/ Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), while Buni was outside the country.
The development, which came as a surprise development to many observers, was, however, following interventions by party chieftains and Buni announcing that all actions taken by his Niger counterpart remained valid.
He reiterated that he had duly transmitted power to Governor Bello who acted on his authority while he was away.
“Therefore all activities that were done in my absence remain valid and binding,” Buni said.
“All party stakeholders and members are hereby advised to disregard the previous statement discarding the activities of the Committee under the leadership of the Acting Chairman.”
Buni also called for “support and understanding to move the party forward to a successful Convention slated for March 26th, 2022”.
Justice Bello Kawu ruling may thus, have saved the APC from the embarrassment that would have resulted from the National Convention not taking place.