The Founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Chekwas Okorie, has strongly criticized Justice JK Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, for his recent ruling on the ongoing crisis within the party.
According to JOINTEARN, Nigerians following the prolonged leadership dispute in various courts witnessed a new turn on Wednesday, November 2024, when Justice Omotosho issued a controversial judgment in the APGA leadership conflict.
In his ruling, Justice Omotosho accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of interfering in the internal affairs of APGA. He further ordered INEC to revoke its recognition of Chief Edozie Njoku as the party’s National Chairman and replace him with Mr. Sly Ezeonwuka, a personal assistant to Governor Chukwuma Soludo.
This development comes despite a March 2023 ruling by a five-member panel of Supreme Court Justices, which had unanimously upheld Chief Edozie Njoku as the legitimate National Chairman of APGA. The Supreme Court had also declared the removal of Njoku by the High Court of Birnin Kudu in Jigawa State as non-justiciable.
Despite this clear Supreme Court ruling, INEC refused to comply. After several attempts to compel INEC to enforce the judgment, including the service of an official order by the Supreme Court’s Chief Bailiff, the Commission remained noncompliant. Consequently, two members of the APGA National Working Committee approached the FCT High Court 40, Bwari, seeking enforcement of the Supreme Court’s decision, as stipulated in Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution.
During proceedings, the court ordered that no party should conduct congresses or conventions while the case was ongoing. However, Chief Victor Oye defied this order and held a convention in Awka, Anambra State, where Mr. Sly Ezeonwuka was elected as National Chairman. In response, the Njoku-led APGA filed contempt motions against Oye and Prof. Yakubu Mahmood, INEC’s Chairman.
On June 6, 2023, the FCT High Court ruled in favor of the Njoku-led APGA as the party’s legitimate leadership, and on November 29, 2023, convicted INEC’s Prof. Mahmood and Chief Oye for contempt. However, sentencing was delayed to allow the defendants a chance to purge their contempt. Oye later appealed both the enforcement and contempt rulings.
On June 26, 2024, the Court of Appeal upheld the Njoku-led APGA as the legitimate party leadership. This ruling led INEC to finally comply with the Supreme Court’s original judgment. Oye and Ezeonwuka, however, proceeded to challenge the Appeal Court’s decision at the Supreme Court, with a hearing scheduled for November 4, 2024.
In light of these events, Okorie condemned Justice Omotosho’s November 20, 2024, ruling as rebellious and an attempt to pre-empt the Supreme Court. He argued that Omotosho’s indictment of INEC for following the Supreme Court’s decision was unjustified. Okorie also warned INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood against yielding to Omotosho’s influence and emphasized that APGA has formally petitioned the National Judicial Council (NJC), awaiting the Supreme Court’s final judgment without fear of political pressure from Governor Soludo or his supporters.
