A High Court of Justice in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has been asked to restrain Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), from parading himself as the party’s chairman.
The suit was filed by Mohammed Saidu Etsu, a former national chairmanship aspirant, News About Nigeria reports.
Named in the suit were APC, National Executive Committee, and National Working Committee as respondents.
Etsu is seeking an order to set aside Ganduje’s appointment, citing a breach of the party’s constitution.
He argues that the APC’s 2022 National Convention agreed that the next chairman must come from the North Central zone, but Ganduje is from the North West zone.
The suit, marked CV/2258/CS/2024, raises several questions, including whether the APC is bound by its constitution to promote internal democracy and representative democracy; whether the National Executive Committee has the power to appoint a chairman outside of the National Convention; whether the National Constitution is the final authority of the APC.
Etsu is also seeking several reliefs, including a declaration that the APC’s constitution binds the party to promote internal democracy and representative democracy; an order setting aside Ganduje’s appointment due to non-compliance with the party’s constitution; a declaration that the National Executive Committee has no power to appoint a chairman; an injunction restraining Ganduje from parading himself as chairman or presiding over party meetings.
Two factions of Ganduje ward had earlier suspended Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, their kinsman and national chairman, over alleged involvement in the misappropriation of public funds and criminal issues during his tenure as Governor of Kano.
Despite this, security operatives launched a manhunt to arrest the ward officers, following a directive from the state chairman of the party, Prince Abdullahi Abbas.
Recently, Ganduje was suspended by a new ward executive committee in Ganduje ward.
The new ward exco, led by Secretary Jaafar Adamu, claims to be the authentic members of Ganduje ward, legally elected on July 31, 2021.
These developments come after two other factions emerged, one suspending Ganduje and another declaring support for him.
