*Oshiomhole reacts to suspension
*Etta’s claim to party leadership sparks controversy
*Only NEC dictates direction for the party – Giadom
…insists Obaseki, others must stay back in APC
*He that gets court validation is APC Acting National Chairman – Former NBA Vice President
“Ajimobi’s lawyer had also denied his appointment in court on March 23…Senator Ajimobi is not recognised as the substantive Deputy National Chairman, South of the APC and can, therefore, not act as the party’s National Chairman.”
The suspended National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Adams Oshiomhole, says he has accepted the court’s verdict which upheld his suspension.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, monitored in Lagos by The DEFENDER, Oshiomhole said he was waiting on his legal advisers’ direction for him to know what next.
He neither confirmed nor opposed to question as to whether or not he would be instructing his lawyers to proceed to Supreme Court and appeal his suspension by high court and upheld by Court of Appeal in Abuja.
“We thank their lordships, they have given their judgement. In our democracy, the court is an independent arm of government.
“When they hand that judgment, it is not for you to pick whether you will obey or not. I accept their judgement in good fate.
“My lawyers will advise having studied the judgement, what the next line of action will be. So at this point, I will just thank their Lordships for their judgment and look forward to my lawyers on what should be the next line if there should be another next line of action,” he said.
Rather than confirming whether he will appeal or not, Oshiomhole insisted that his next move would not be discussed on national television.
He said: “What I do next would be based on my legal advice and my lawyers will act on that. I don’t think I need to communicate that through the television. It’s a relationship between a lawyer and his client. And I think we should leave it at that.”
Going by the ruling of the Court of Appeal by implication, Adams Oshiomhole is currently not a member of APC although he stated during the interview that he might be suspended as chairman but that he is still a member of the party.
Reacting to question on the decision of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) to disqualify Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State from participating in APC primary election on June 22, Oshiomhole, as a non-member of NWC and suspended chairman, still stood his ground that there is no going back on the decision.
While pleading for peace among members, he advised the APC’s Secretary, Victor Giadom, who resumed on order of court at the APC National Secretariat on Wednesday and addressed a press conference to that effect, against parading himself as the acting National Chairman of the party.
Oshiomhole’s comments come 24 hours after the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja affirmed his suspension as a member and National Chairman of the ruling party.
Ruling on the interlocutory appeal filed by Comrade Oshiomhole himself, the appellate court upheld the decision of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court delivered by Justice Danlami Senchi, which in March ordered the suspension of Oshiomhole as well as restraining him from parading himself as the National Chairman of the party.
In a unanimous judgement in the first appeal delivered by Justice Eunice Onyemanam, the court held that the FCT High Court had territorial jurisdiction to have entertained the suit as it did.
The court also withdrew his rights and privileges as National Chairman of the party including his security details.
Giadom speaks
By the appeal Court decision also, all actions taken by Oshiomhole leadership between March 16 and June 16 became null and void, which, among other things, strengthen the confidence of the new Acting National Chairman in the person of Chief Victor Giadom to declare that there has been no screening process for primary election in Edo State.
Giadom, who also spoke on the same television programme, then promised that there will now be screening process and primary election in Edo, even as he strongly appealed to Governor Obaseki and others who have resigned their membership of APC to come back with a confidence that they would get justice, free and fair treatment.
It will be recalled that shortly after pronouncement of appellate court upholding Oshiomhole’s suspension on Tuesday, the National Working Committee if the APC in a statement by its National publicity secretary Lanre Issa-Onilu, swiftly named Abiola Ajimobi it claimed to be Deputy National Chairman as Acting National Chairman.
But, equipped with the Abuja High Court judgement upheld by the appellate court, Victor Giadom arrived the National Secretariat of the APC Wednesday morning where he resumed as Acting National Chairman and addressed a press conference to that effect.
Controversy, however, sparked when Hilliard Etta, National Vice Chairman of the party rose from NWC just quitted by Oshiomhole and announced his appointment ‘Acting Acting National Chairman’.
In a statement sent to The DEFENDER by spokesman of the party Tuesday night, Ajimobi was announced to take over the leadership. Etta, in his address in Abuja Wednesday, said the party’s National Working Committee affirmed the appointment of Ajimobi as the Acting National Chairman.
But due to Mr Ajimobi’s unavoidable absence, Etta said the NWC had appointed National Vice Chairman, South-South, Hilliard Etta to act on his behalf.
Where it stood late Wednesday was that the the APC Deputy National Secretary, who was most senior party officer as at March 26 of Oshiomhole’s suspension, Mr Victor Giadom, insisted that he is the Acting National Chairman, on the strength of the Federal Capital Territory High Court order obtained.
Giadom said: “And that order was given Honourable Justice S. U. Bature and I do not find it right that, if a court in Nigeria has given an order, I don’t see what anybody can do to come and disobey that order.”
He continued: “Like I did say, it is important that we obey all orders of court and judgements. That is how we can grow our democracy. We do not have the right to select the order that we obey and the one that we won’t obey.
“As I speak to you, there is no counter order barring me from (office) as Acting National Chairman of the party. I do not see where the confusion will come from. And I must say right here that I am the Acting National Chairman of the party because the court has pronounced that and it is clear.”
He however warned: “So there can be confusion and I don’t think any other person or a section of the NWC will override the decision of the court. I don’t think that will be possible,” Chief Victor Giadom said.
On Obaseki’s resignation, the Acting National Chairman said once he sees a copy of his resignation, the party will know what next to be done.
“We would refer back to NEC, National Executive Council. The organ that has that power and responsibility to provide direction for this party is the NEC. And nobody can constitute himself to be NEC of this party. That is why it is worrisome the way things have turned in this party, that you just wake up in the morning and take decisions without referring to the NEC. That will not help the growth of the party.
“He (Obaseki) should come back to the APC. That is what I want. We would be glad to have him back to this party. We won’t like our serving governor and, not even just serving governor, at member of this party to go. We won’t like to lose our members to any other political party,” he said.
On Edo election, Giadom said: “There has been no primary yet. There is going to be primary. There is no issue of conducting a fresh primary because, there has never been primary before.
“So, I think that we would extend our olive hand to him (Obaseki) and we advise him not to leave our own party and to ensure him that he would have justice in this party and he will be able to express his ambition,” he said.
APC has no Deputy National Chairman South – Legal Document
Meanwhile, a legal document has surfaced, from a group in the southwest, claiming that the position of the Deputy National Chairman, south of the APC is still vacant and that the party’s acting National Chairman, Abiola Ajimobi is not eligible to occupy the seat.
The group’s lawyer, Babatunde Oke said in a statement that the suit was instituted at the Federal High Court in Ado-Ekiti on February 12, 2020, against the APC National Working Committee (NWC) and Ajimobi asking the court, among other things, to fill up the position in line with the party’s constitution.
The statement reportedly explained that at the time it was instituted, Senator Ajimobi’s name had not been purportedly recognised, but he was later announced as the Deputy National Chairman, South, of the party.
It added that Ajimobi’s lawyer had also denied his appointment in court on March 23, as the court warned that all parties desist from changing the status quo on the suit.
The group insists that Senator Ajimobi is not recognised as the substantive Deputy National Chairman, South of the APC and can, therefore, not act as the party’s National Chairman.
Consequently, they asked the National Working Committee to take note of the suit and desist from committing contempt of court.
Ex-NBA Vice President speaks
An immediate past Vice President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Barrister Monday Ubani commenting on a television programmed anchored in Lagos, said the man that goes to court for validation order is the Acting National Chairman of the APC.
Failure to obey this court order, the right lawyer said, will out the APC in bad shape.
