The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Wednesday ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission , INEC, to recognise Barrister Sly Ezeokewa as the authentic National Chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance ,APGA,.
The court set aside INEC publication dated July 2 that recognised Njoku lead faction as the authentic National Executive of APGA.
Justice James Omotosho gave the order while delivering judgement in a suit brought by APGA and others against INEC and others seeking to compel the national electoral body to restore the names of Barr Sly Ezeokewa and his national executives officers in website of INEC.
The plaintiffs had sued INEC and Chief Edozine Njoku lead faction of APGA after the national electoral commission on July 9, 2024 removed Barr. Ezeokewa name and his executive officers from its website as leaders of APGA and replaced same with Chief Edozine Njoku name.
Delivering the judgment Justice Omotosho traced the APGA leadership crisis that transversed all the courts in the land.He said that after carefully and comprehensively” going through cases between Victor Oye and Chief Edozine Njoku, before the courts he found that no order of court recognised Chief Njoku as National Chairman, upon which INEC acted.
He said that the Supreme Court judgement which Njoku has being floating did not recognise him as National Chairman of APGA . The judge read in the open court a letter written by the Registrar of Supreme Court to the effect that the correction made on the name of plaintiff in an appeal that arose from Jigawa State High Court did not accord recognition to Njoku as the National chairman of APGA. The Supreme Court had said that the matter was not justiciable and them dismissed the appeal.
This court will not depart from the decision of the Supreme Court but to enforce it. The 4th defendant acted ridiculously, “No positive order of the court declaring Njoku as the National Chairman of APGA.”
Consequently, Justice Omotosho ordered that all meetings conveyed by Chief Njoku or person who replaced him are nullity , voided and of no effect.
The court further stated that the national convention held in Awka Anambra state that produced Sly Ezeokewa was properly constituted.
Therefore, the court ordered that the names of the executive officers elected at Akwa on May 31 2023 must be restored and recognised by INEC as the National Executive Officers of APGA.
He issued a declarative order directing INEC to delete it’s publication of July 4, 2024 that recognised Njoku as Chairman. and a mandatory injunction compelling INEC to publish the name of Ezeokewa as the National chairman of APGA.