The Governor Umar Ganduje led-faction of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Kano, has said it will appeal the judgement of an Abuja high court nullifying the recently held ward Congress in the state.
The reaction comes on the heels of the High court ruling validating the Congress held by the Senator Ibrahim Shekarau G-7 led-faction against the Governor Ganduje led-faction of the APC in Kano state.
In a Media briefing, Kano state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, M. A Lawal, said the “judgement is under assessment, and the court will file an appeal on the ground that the court lacks jurisdiction to hear the case. Moreover, they were the only authentic leadership that conducted the ward-wide Congress election in the state led by the state party chairman, Abdullahi Abbas. We had argued from the start that the High Court in Abuja lacks the jurisdiction to hear the case,” said Lawal.
He said they hope for a favourable judgement when the case is appealed. In another swift reaction, the Kano state Commissioner for Information, Mallam Mohammed Garba, in a statement, said contrary to people’s interpretation in some quarters, the court had sacked the entire APC Party leadership in Kano. The ruling only affected the ward Congress; as such, Abdulahi Abbas remains the Kano state APC chairman and not Aminu Danzago of the Senator Shekarau G-7 led-faction.
A High Court in Abuja, the nation’s capital, presided over by Justice Hamza Muazu on Tuesday upheld the congresses conducted by Senator Ibrahim Shekarau led-faction of the party.
The judge ruled that the Shekarau led-faction “tagged G-” conducted an election that a 7-man committee of the APC signed.
The judge then granted all the reliefs sought by the Senator Ibrahim Shekarau faction, seeking a declaration that the Ganduje-led group did not conduct ward and local government congresses.
The Applicants in the suit are Muntaka Bala Sulyman with 17, 980 members of the party while the defendants are All Progressive Congress, as first defendant, Mai- Mala Buni , Caretaker Chairman, Sen. John Akpanudoedehe, National Secretary and Independent National Electoral Commission, as the fourth defendant.
Barr Nuraini Jimoh represented the applicants, SAN and the defendants were represented by Barr Sule Usman, SAN, M.N. Duru and Mashood Alabelewe.
Suzan O
