Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The internal wrangling in the All Progressives Congress (APC) has taken a legal dimension with a court order restraining the Adams Oshiomhole-led national leadership of the party from removing Inuwa Abdulkadir as its first national vice chairman, North-West.
The action is a fallout of a suit filed by Abdulkadir, marked SS/33/2019, brought against the APC, Oshiomhole, Isa Achida and Sambo Danchadi, as first to fourth respondents, respectively.
Justice M.U. Dogon Daji, in an ex parte motion dated August 15, 2019, specifically restrained the APC leadership from taking any action based on what it described as the “vote of no confidence” purportedly calling on the leadership of the party to remove Abdulkadir as first national vice chairman, North-West.
The court insisted that the “status quo be maintained by the defendant/respondents at the time of filing suit No. SS/33/2019.”
Justice Dogon Daji of the Sokoto State High Court ordered that, “The defendants/respondents by themselves, their agents or any other person acting on their authority are hereby restrained from interfering with the plaintiff and or the rights and privileges and duties/functions of the plaintiff/applicant as officer (first national vice chairman, North-West zone) of the first defendant/respondents, pending determination and the hearing of the motion on notice and the substantive suit No. SS/33/2019.
“The defendants/respondents by themselves, their agents, servants or any other person acting for or claiming through them are restrained from doing anything or taking any action in furtherance of the purported ‘vote of no confidence’ passed calling on the leadership of the first defendant/respondent (National Executive Committee and National Working Committee) to remove the plaintif/applicant from office of the first national vice chairman, North-West, of the first defendant, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on No. SS/M.212/2019 and substantive suit No. SS/33/2019.”
Following the handling of the APC primary elections by its leadership prior to the 2019 general election and its resultant loss of some of its key strongholds, some party stalwarts, including Inuwa Abdulkadir, criticised Oshiomhole, blaming him for the crisis and losses.
Since then, there have been subtle moves to remove Abdulkadir from his position as first national vice chairman.
On why he took the party to court, Abdulkadir explained that: “There were complaints from the Sokoto State chapter of our party. Complaints, which I was not privy to, but as soon as they were brought to my notice, I responded to them as a responsible leader because, no matter how frivolous a complaint is, a leader needs to take steps to address them, and I did appropriately.
“I urged the party to also take steps to curb the excesses of certain individuals within the state’s chapter of the party and informed them of my intention to seek legal redress, if the party failed to act in accordance with provisions of our constitution.
“They (party) failed, and I was left with no option but to seek legal redress. So, I went to court challenging the procedure they employed to try to take the action they took or were about to take at that time.”
On what led to the crisis in the party, the vice chairman said: “The chairman’s penchant for arbitrariness is largely responsible for the crisis, which led to our losses in states where the party had no reason to lose.
“There were no proper meetings of the National Working Committee. Where there was even a claim of that during the period, what went out to the public as our resolution was at variance with decisions reached at such meetings.”