By Taiye Agbaje
Ahead of the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s national convention holding on Saturday, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has prayed a Federal High Court, Abuja, to declare the planned exercise unconstitutional and illegal.
The PDP, In a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/389 2022, also sought a court order deregistering the APC as a political party having failed to meet the requirements of Sections 222(a), 223(b) and 225 of the 1999 Constitution.
The party, in the suit dated March 25 and filed by its counsel, Samuel Irabor, listed the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC), the APC, Registered Trustees of APC and the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee(CECPC).
Others are the Chairman of the APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee as defendants as 1st to 5th defendants respectively.
In the application, the PDP equally asked the court for an order of perpetual injunction restraining INEC from recognising, communicating with, dealing with or having any business whatsoever with the APC as a registered political party.
The parry averred that by a certified true copy of INEC’s list of APC’s current EXCO, the party is being run by a 13-member EXCO.
The PDP said the constitutional stipulations in Section 223 of the 1999 Constitution that the EXCO or Governing Body of a political party must be drawn from two-third of the 36 states of Nigeria is mathematically 24.
The PDP urged the court to declare all the prior acts of the Mala Buni-led caretaker committee leading to the institution of the suit as well as all subsequent acts, including the convention of March 26 is null and void.
The PDP prayed for order to de-registrar the APC by INEC in line with Section 225A of the 1999 constitution.
In the originating summons brought pursuant to Order 3, Rule 6 of the Federal High Court Rules, the party urged the court to determine “whether upon a calm consideration of Section 223(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution, the leadership of the APC (2nd defendants) can be made up of only 13 members as presently constituted by the chairman of the CECPC and forwarded/registered with the 1st defendant (INEC).
“And if the answer is in the negative, whether the APC has any valid leadership so called, forwarded /registered with INEC in compliance with Section 223(1) of the 1999 Constitution and whether any act done by the said leadership is valid and founded in law.
” If the answer to the 2nd and 3rd legs of the issue in the above paragraph is further in the negative, whether the APC is not liable to be de-registered as a political party pursuant to Sections 222(a), 223(2)(b) and 225(A) of the 1999 Constitution.”
It sought “a declaration that by the express provisions of Section 223(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution, the leadership of the APC cannot be made up of only 13 members as presently constituted by the chairman of the CECPC and forwarded /registered with INEC.
“A declaration that all the prior actions and subsequent actions undertaken by the defendants are null void and of no effect.”
The matter was yet to be assigned to a judge as at the time of filing the story.(NAN)
