The Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, on Friday, ordered the All Progressives Congress, APC, not to take any step to organise indirect governorship primary election in Kogi State, pending the determination of a suit that was lodged before the court by some chieftains of the party in the state.
The National Working Committee, NWC, of the APC had fixed August 29 to hold primary election for the purpose of choosing who will be the flag-bearer of the governorship election billed for November 16.
However, chieftains of the party in the state approached the court to challenge the decision of the party to conduct indirect primary election which they alleged was aimed to favour the incumbent governor of the state, Yahaya Bello.
In an affidavit of urgency they filed through their lawyer, Mr. Oluwole Aladedoye, the Kogi APC stakeholders prayed the high court to intervene to stop the party from embarking on what they described as the same mistake that made the party to lose all the elective positions in Zamfara State.
Plaintiffs in the suit marked FHC/CS/833/19, who are members of the Haddy Ametuo-led faction of the party in the state, are Destiny Eneojoh Aromeh; Organising Secretary, Mr. Isah Abubakar; Zonal Youth Leader, Noah Aku, and Zonal Women Leader, Mrs. Joy Onu.
They had in an affidavit urgency they filed through their lawyer, Mr. Oluwole Aladedoye, prayed the high court to intervene to stop the party from embarking on same mistake that made it to lose all the elective positions in Zamfara State.
Though they applied for an interim injunction against the party, the court, in a ruling that was delivered by Justice Taiwo Taiwo, granted accelerated hearing of substantive issues the plaintiffs raised in the suit.
The Court however warned APC not to carry out any action to truncate the “Res” (subject matter) of the litigation.
“I am of the view that in view of urgency of the matter and the pending motion for interlocutory injunctions, it is better to give accelerated hearing to the matter rather than to grant the application for interim injunction.
“In the interest of justice, I abridge the time within which the respondents should respond to the suit to 10 days”, Justice Taiwo held.
He ordered all the parties to file and exchange processes and return on August 19 for the substantive matter to be heard.
Meanwhile, before the ruling was delivered, the APC, through its lawyer, Mr. Damian Dodo, SAN, notified the court that it filed a preliminary objection to challenge both the competence of the suit and jurisdiction of the court to entertain it.
Dodo said his appearance was not to arrest the ruling of the court, but for the APC to be afforded the opportunity to be heard.
He said the party filed a memorandum of conditional appearance in the matter.
Specifically, the plaintiff had in a motion ex-parte they filed pursuant to Order 26 Rule 6, 7 and 8 of the Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules, applied for: “An order of interim injunction restraining the defendants, by itself, its organs, agents or any person howsoever described, from adopting the indirect mode of primary for the nomination of governorship candidate in the forthcoming 2019 governorship election in Kogi State, pending determination of the motion on notice”.
They alleged that the APC was bent on allowing only delegates that are loyal to Governor Bello to participate in the planned indirect primary election with a view to ensuring that he secured a return ticket.
The plaintiffs told the court that they are the authentic members of the Executive Committee of the APC in Kogi State, having emerged through a congress they said was conducted in 2018.
They claimed that in a bid to perpetuate himself in office, the governor, raised parallel EXCOs that are loyal to him to dislodge them.
According to the plaintiffs, the issue which became a subject of litigation before the high court, was assigned to Justice Okon Abang who adjourned the matter till October 2.
Aladedoye told the court that despite the pendency of the matter, the APC NWC met and agreed to adopt the indirect mode of primary he said was skewed to shut out his clients to allow only those that will vote for governor Bello to participate.
The plaintiffs’ lawyer told the court that though APC’s constitution stipulated three modes of primary- Direct, Indirect and Consensus- he said the party had at the time it nominated President Muhammadu Buhari for the 2019 presidential election, adopted the direct mode.
He said the direct mode would allow all card carrying members of the party in Kogi State to participate in the nomination of a gubernatorial flag-bearer for the state.
In their Originating Summons, the plaintiffs, among other things, prayed the court to determine whether having regard to the pendency of the pending suit, the APC could adopt the indirect primary.
“Whether the involvement of persons claiming to be members of the Kogi SEC during the pendency of the suit in the nomination of the governorship candidate would not amount to interference with the judicial process and run against the principle of subjudice which would render the outcome of such primary illegal, null and void.
“Whether the defendant can ignore the suit which seeks to determine the authentic members of the Kogi SEC, who constitute the delegates by adopting the indirect mode of the primary.
As well as, “Whether it is not an act of disrespect for judicial processes for the defendant to adopt the indirect mode of primary in nominating its governorship candidate having been made a party to the suit, which seeks to determine the authentic members of the Kogi SEC, who will constitute the bulk of the delegates to participate in the indirect primary mode for the nomination of the governorship candidate”.
Vanguard
