APC: Documents Show Why Scheduled March 26, National Convention May Not Hold
- There are indications that the Saturday, March 26, the national convention of ruling All Progressives Congress might not hold
- Court documents show that the APC is yet to secure a court ruling to vacate an order stopping it from conducting its convention
- It was gathered that the newly amended Electoral Act and the timetable released by INEC might also work against the party even if the order is vacated
Contrary to expectations and plans put in place, there are indications that the scheduled Saturday, March 26, the national convention of the All Progressives Congress might not hold as planned.
Documents seen by Legit.ng have shown that there are several impeding factors that could hinder the much-anticipated convention from taking place.
Recall that the Governor Mai Mala-Buni-Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) had scheduled Saturday, March 26, for the national convention of APC, for the purpose of electing the party's national officials.
Source: UGC
However, the new convention date as fixed by the party has caused several controversies including a recent move to replace Governor Buni with his colleague from Niger state, Abubakar Sani Bello.
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Bello has since taken over affairs of the party at the APC secretariat while inaugurating chairmen of various state chapters.
It has been gathered that various legal and technical irregularities might be a stumbling block to the March 26, national convention of the APC.
Legal matters that may impede the APC from conducting the national convention
To make matters worse, a substituting court order restraining APC from holding its national convention has not been vacated nor had any appeal against it.
Source: UGC
A suit filed before the Bwari division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory had restrained the ruling party from holding its convention
The suit with the number FCT/HC/CV/2958/2021 and filed by Honourable Salisu Umoru held that the party cannot hold its convention until a substantive suit has been heard and determined.
The appellant had the APC, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Governor Buni, as respondents.
Part of the court order reads:
“That the 1st Defendant/Respondent can only conduct its national convention after the hearing and determination of the substantive suit pending before this honourable court."
In addition, the judge over the matter, Justice Bello Kawu, in his ruling ordered an accelerated hearing of the substantive suit in the interest of justice.
Having made his ruling on the matter, Justice Kawu adjourned to January 10, 2022, for a hearing of the substantive suit at High Court No. 15, Kubwa, FCT, Abuja.
But in a complicating manner, the court has recently adjourned the hearing on the substantive matter to Wednesday, March 30.
This means that the APC can only know whether or not the convention would hold on March 30, - four days after the already scheduled date.
Nasir El-Rufai and other governors concern
With this recent development, governors and leaders within the party have become worried about the implications of the unappealed judgement, especially with the limited timeframe provided by INEC in its rules and guidelines for an election.
Another major issue is the two subsisting judgements in respect to Rivers and Zamfara states APC candidacies in the 2019 general elections.
With these judgements, there is the possibility that the APC would not field any legitimate candidate in any of the general elections in 2023.
Speaking on the matters arising, the governor of Kaduna state Nasir El-Rufai had expressed worry for the fate of the party.
El-Rufai admitted that the court order is a calamity waiting to forestall activities within the APC and possible spell doom for the party.
In a recent interview, El-Rufai described the court order as a “hidden nuclear weapon” designed to destroy the party’s chances in the 2023 general election.
His words:
“This court order was obtained in November. A member of the party went to court to say that there must be no convention until his case against the party is disposed of, which can take months or years."
One other challenge that must be considered is the court order restraining INEC and the APC/CECPC which is still in force and valid until it is vacated.
It is important to note that as of Thursday, March 10, morning, two weeks to the planned convention, the order has not been vacated by the court.
In another sinister move, Section 82(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 (as amended) states that every registered political party shall give INEC 21 days' notice to any of its conventions, congress, conference or meeting.
These include meetings for the purpose of 'merger' and electing members of the executive committee, other governing bodies or nominating candidates for any of the elective offices specified under the Act.
An interpretation of this particular clause in the 2022 amended Electoral Act means that once the court order is vacated, the APC/CECPC is expected to give INEC 21 days' notice informing the commission of its plan to conduct a national convention.
Counting from today, Thursday, March 10, APC has just 16 days to the already scheduled national convention instead of 21 days as stipulated by the Electoral Act.
Also, with the electoral body having published an elections timetable, the APC is now under duress to meet up the stipulated timelines.
This means that failure to meet up with INEC's timetable may result in the party's inability to field candidates in the 2023 general elections.
Sources say APC legal team currently shopping for judges to vacate court order stopping convention
The legal committee of the All Progressive Congress (APC) caretaker committee is reportedly shopping for judges to vacate the court order stopping its elective national convention.
Legit.ng reported that the national convention of the APC scheduled for Saturday, March 26, is still under probability.
A Bwari division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in a suit had restrained the ruling party from holding its convention until a substantive suit has been heard and determined.
Buhari cannot sack Buni As APC national caretaker chairman, says party chieftain
Recall that Ben Abdul, a constitutional and international analyst and chieftain of the APC, recently declared that President Buhari cannot sack Governor Buni as the national caretaker chairman of the ruling party.
Abdul made this known in a statement sent to journalists on Monday, March 7, while reacting to the lead story in a major national newspaper that President Buhari had sacked Buni.
He said the only organ of the party that can remove Buni as the chairman of the party is the NEC which is the highest decision-making organ of the party.
Source: Legit.ng
