APGA Leadership Tussle: Court Restrains INEC from Recognising Njoku Faction
· I remain authentic APGA chairman, says Ezeokenwa
Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
The leadership of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) yesterday secured an interim injunction from the court restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising or dealing with Chief Edozie Njoku as the party’s national chairman.
The injunction which was granted by Justice J.K. Omotoso of the Federal High Court, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Division, was sequel to a suit filed by the incumbent National Chairman of APGA, Chief Sly Ezeokenwa, to challenge the INEC’s alleged false representation of Chief Njoku and his group as the National Executive of APGA.
While granting the order in the case filed Thursday 18 July, 2024 by APGA and Chief Ezeokenwa with suit no: FHC/ABJ/966/2024, Justice Omotoso ordered, “That the plaintiff and 1st defendant are hereby ordered not to take any step or act or step that will make the outcome of the motion on notice dated and filed on the 12th day of July, 2024 nugatory.
“That any act, action or steps taken by the plaintiff and the 1st Defendant in this case to make the outcome of this matter a nugatory shall be nullity.”
Addressing journaists at the APGA National Secretariat in Abuja yesterday, Chief Ezeokenwa said that INEC acted in error by posting Njoku’s name on.its website as national chairman of APGA.
He said that the commission was also wrong in using “court order” as defense for it’s action since there was evidence any judgement or court order compelling INEC to recognise the leader of the splitter group.
Ezeokenwa said that the party got its lawyers to write to INEC protesting the commissio ‘s action but that it failed to correct the error, hence the decision to drag the electoral umpire to court.
Ezeokenwa said that as far as the party is concerned and in the eyes of the law, the only authentic leadership of APGA known to it’s members is the present national working committee led by himself.
He traced the history of leadership tussle in APGA, including the events leading to his emergence as the party’s national chairman at a national convention in which was monitored by INEC.
He further traced all the court cases involving the party and affirmed that in all the litigations and judgements arising from them, there was nowhere the court ever sgranted any relief for Njoku to be recognized as the chairman of APGA.
