Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The National Vice Chairman of the North-East All Progressives Congress (APC), Salihu Mustapha, has applied to the FCT high court to strike out a court order making him the party’s Acting National Secretary.
An Abuja FCT high court sitting in Maitama presided over by Hon Justice SU Bature had on Thursday issued an order that Mustapha be allowed to carry out the functions of Acting National Secretary of the ruling party.
Mustapha, who immediately rejected the court order, noted that though he was aware that such plea was entered in March, the recent resolution of the zone endorsing the nomination of Waziri Bulama for the office of National Secretary, forwarded to NEC for ratification, had overtaking such plea from the court.
According to him, the North-East stakeholders including Senate President Ahmed Lawan, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Boss Mustapha and all APC governors and members of the National Assembly from the zone, had met and endorsed Bulama’s nomination for National Secretary and forwarded their endorsement to the NEC for ratification.
Speaking to newsmen in Abuja on his resolve to head to court to discharge the ruling, Mustapha said: ‘I have directed that the suite and order making me the Acting National Secretary of APC should be struck out.
‘I was part of the North-East APC stakeholders that met and endorsed the nomination of Arc Bulama and cannot go to court to seek for such position again.
‘We, the North-East APC, believe in the competence of Bulama and have appointed him into the position waiting for his ratification by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party.
‘I am striking the suite entered in March out because I believe that the issue has been resolved and for the interest and peace of the party.
”Actually, the lawyers that got that order are my lawyers. Sometime in early March, I went to seek for that order when the party was in crisis. But after that time, as a zone, we had a political solution which culminated in a zonal executive committee meeting attended by the SGF, the Senate president, the three governors from the zone, former governors, all the senators and House of Reps members from the zone.
‘At that meeting we endorsed the candidature of Waziri Bulama as the national secretary of the party, which we are to forward to the NEC for ratification. The decision was unanimous. That decision happened Saturday last week, we came back to Abuja and by Wednesday or Thursday, the Appeal Court confirmed the suspension of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole as the national chairman of our party.
‘Between the time we reached that political solution endorsing Bulama and the time the court removed Oshiomhole was barely three days and my lawyers were not aware that we had already reached that decision. And I also did not debrief them.
‘But as we speak, we are making all arrangements with my lawyers to seek for discontinuation and rescind the prayer we made in court because, for me, the zonal decision supersedes any other prayers pending in court. We are going to vacate that order to allow Architect Bulama’s name to be sent to NEC for ratification as the national secretary of our party,’ he said.
The party chieftain added that he was also aware that the FCT high court granted the Deputy National Secretary, Victor Giadom, an order to act as APC National Chairman in March, an order that was renewed on June 16.
‘I am very much aware of that suit 6607. In fact, I was the one who instituted that suit earlier asking that Victor Giadom be made the Acting National Chairman so that we call National Executive Committee NEC meeting and submit the party to NEC. That order was granted sometime in March and the court in its magnanimity has renewed that order and we are still committed that NEC should be held so that we submit the party to it,’ he explained.
He said that as a party and National Working Committee member, his concern is for the smooth running of the APC.
