Kano APC Crisis: Appeal Court hands back control to Ganduje faction
The Court of Appeal Abuja division has set aside the judgment of the FCT High Court which invalidated the ward and local government congresses of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano State.
The appellate court said the lower court lacks jurisdiction over the case as it is not a pre-election matter but an internal affair of the party which should be decided by the leadership of the APC.
The judgment hands the control of the APC in Kano back to Governor Abdullahi Ganduje.
Background
The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Abuja had voided the congresses following a challenge in the suit filed by a group led by a senator and former governor of the state, Ibrahim Shekarau.
The two factions had held parallel congresses and produced two sets of state executives on October 18, 2021.
While Mr Ganduje’s group produced Abdullahi Abbas as state chairman, Mr Shekarau’s camp elected Haruna Danzago to the same position.
The national leadership of the party had recognised the congresses of the Ganduje group, leading to the other faction heading to the court.
The FCT High Court, on November 30, declared the congress conducted by the plaintiffs as valid and the officials it produced as the duly elected leaders of the APC in the state.
It similarly on December 17 affirmed its decision by rejecting a motion filed by the Ganduje faction asking the court to stay execution and set aside the judgment.
The judge, Hamza Muazu, further imposed a fine of N1 million against the plaintiffs for filing “a frivolous and time-wasting motion” by asking the court to set aside its judgment and stay the execution on the local government congresses.
The Ganduje faction had filed the motions following their appeal regarding the matter. They subsequently transmitted the records of appeal to the Court of Appeal, a crucial procedural step that sets the stage for the hearing of the appeal.
The judge, Mr Muazu, struck out the applications on the basis that he had lost jurisdiction to hear the case after the records of appeal were transmitted to the Court of Appeal.
In its judgment on Thursday, the appeal court ruled in favour of the Ganduje faction. It said the lower court has no jurisdiction as only the leadership of a political party can resolve disputes arising from its internal affairs, in line with the constitution of the party.
When contacted for its reaction to the judgment, the spokesperson of the Shekarau faction, Sule Ya’u-Sule, said he will respond after studying it.