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From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
After five years in the legal trenches, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on July 9, 2024 finally accorded recognition to Chief Edozie Njoku as the National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
The recognition of Njoku by the electoral body automatically clothed members of his National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, with the legal rights to take decisions on issues affecting the party.
Before now, the party was thrown into internal discord with factions emerging amidst differing aspirations.
Indeed, APGA was deeply factionalized by two chieftains of the party, Chief Edozie Njoku, who emerged from the May 31, 2019, Owerri convention, and Chief Victor Oye, who emerged at a parallel convention that was held at the Professor Dora Akunyili Women Development Centre in Awka, the Anambra State capital.
However, while the Oye-led faction of the party somehow succeeded in providing ticket to Prof. Charles Soludo who contested and won the 2021 governorship election in Anambra State, Chief Njoku embraced the legal option to reclaim his stolen mandate.
This paid off when the Supreme Court by its Judgment of October 14, 2021, restored his mandate as the authentic National Chairman of the party.
By a letter dated November 7, 2022, Justice Mary Odili (now retired) who presided over the panel that delivered the judgment, stated that the appearance of Oye’s name in the judgment was an error.
She said: “I indeed recall your letter dated 6th May 2022 to me, as the presiding Justice of the panel and the other four Justices, which requested for correction of the 14th October, 2021, Supreme Court judgment, wherein the name of Chief Victor Oye was erroneously inserted instead of the name of Chief Edozie Njoku.
“It is to be placed on record that I corrected the mistake by replacing Chief Victor Oye’s name with that of Chief Edozie Njoku on paragraph 1 of page 13 of the 14th October, 2021 judgment.
“The correction was made having cognizance that on the day of delivery of the judgment being 14th October, 2021 by a slip of the pen and tongue the name of Chief Victor Oye was brought in.
“This error was pointed out to me by other members of the panel, who reminded me that Chief Victor Oye was not a party to the appeal or the proceedings which emanated from the Jigawa High court.
However, in the course of the trajectory of errors, the name of Chief Victor Oye kept recurring in the record of the judgment instead of the right party to the proceeding, Chief Edozie Njoku.
“By this clarification, it is expected that Chief Victor Oye was not a party to the proceedings and the proper person for whom the judgment and orders referred is Chief Edozie Njoku.”
Despite this clarification by the apex court, Oye continued to lay claim to being AGPA Chairman, with the INEC according him recognition despite persistent protest by the Njoku-led executives of the party.
The legal battle continued until two executive members of APGA, Kamaru Ogidan and Alhaji Rabiu Mustapha, who were elected along with Njoku (as the Chairman) at the May 31, 2019 convention of the party in Owerri, Imo State, filed a suit before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory FCT, Abuja.
The plaintiffs by the suit, marked FCT/HC/CV/4068/2023, sought to enforce the October 14, 2021 judgment of the Supreme Court recognizing the leadership of the party who were elected at the May 31, 2019 convention.
They prayed the court to among others, restrain Oye from further acting as APGA Chairman and for INEC, listed as the second respondent in the suit, from further relating with Oye in the capacity of the Chairman of the party in view of the Supreme Court judgment. The plaintiff equally prayed the court to compel INEC to recognise Njoku as APGA’s Chairman.
In his Judgment, Justice Madugu granted the reliefs of the plaintiffs and declared Oye’s claim to APGA’s Chairmanship as unlawful, restrained him from further parading himself as the party’s Chairman and restrained INEC from further dealing with Oye as APGA’s Chairman.
The judge held that “the actions of the first respondent (Oye) posing and parading himself and occupying the party’s secretariat as the National Chairman of APGA, contrary to the judgment and order of the Supreme Court made on the 14th October, 2021 and corrected on the 24th March, 2023 is in disobedience and in clear violation of the judgments of the Supreme Court.”
Justice Mohammed Madugu issued an order of injunction “restraining the second respondent, whether by itself, agents, privies, assigns, authorized representatives or whosoever described from accepting, recognizing and dealing with the first respondent.”
The judge, who declared all that had been done by Oye as illegal and void, held that the two respondents in the suit ( Oye and INEC) “must comply with the decision of the Supreme court made on the 14th October, 2021 and subsequently corrected on the 24th March, 2023 which has also been served on them.”
Regardless of the above decision of the court, INEC still refused to recognize Njoku as the party’s national chairman until Ogidan and Mustapha later returned to the High Court of the FCT, with a motion seeking the committal of Oye and INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu to prison for allegedly disobeying an order of the court.
In his ruling, the judge observed that “upon a careful review of the evidence and arguments presented by all parties, it is evident that the 1st respondent organized congresses and the national convention of APGA, notwithstanding the court order issued on 10th May 2023.
“To have acted contrary to the subsisting order of this court, without having same set aside or without the expiration of the order’s lifespan, create a complex legal conundrum that necessitates the committal proceedings at hand.
The first and second respondents (Oye and Yakubu) have committed contempt by disobeying the subsisting order of this court made on May 10, 2023 and I so hold. This impunity cannot continue. This political insanity has to stop.
“The acceptance of candidates by the second respondent (Yakubu) that are products of the congress presided over by the first respondent, Chief Victor Oye held on 31st May, 2023 in defiance of the order of this court made on 10th May, 2023, is undoubtedly an affront to the order of this court.”
It was in compliance with the above Judgment that INEC on July 9, 2024, recognized the Chief Edozie Njoku’s led EXCO as the authentic leadership of the party.
Indeed, counsel to INEC in the above matter, Ahmed Mohammed of the legal department of the commission, had on July 10, 2024, confirmed the official position of INEC, when he told Justice Madugu:
“My Lord, on behalf of the 2nd Respondent (INEC), upon being served with the Certified True Copy of the Court of Appeal judgment, delivered on June 28, 2024; same was forwarded to the Chairman, and the Commission Saturday on July 9, and deliberated on the two judgements.
“The Commission came out with a decision extract in compliance with the two judgments of the Court of Appeal, and which we undertake in court to serve all the parties that the commission has fully complied with the judgments; and has restored the name of the 2nd plaintiff/applicant (Chief Edozie Njoku) in its website as National Chairman of APGA,” the INEC lawyer told the court.
Njoku’s Olive Branch
Ever since his victory, Chief Njoku has embarked on a reconciliation mission to unite the party by extending his olive branch to some aggrieved members of the party.
He has been spreading the message that unity of purpose and understanding and working together is all the party needed at this critical moment.
Njoku’s message to party members emphasizes the paramount importance of setting aside differences to focus on the shared goal of repositioning the party for greatness.
“It is imperative that we rally together, transcending individual ambitions for the collective success of our party.
“It is incumbent upon us to unite and present a formidable front that not only secures victory but also offers hope and progress for our state.”
He promised to create opportunities for fair representation and provide a platform for the voice of members to be heard and to be committed to transparency and accountability that would cater for the diverse perspectives and values of party members across the state.
More importantly, Njoku stated that he has no fight with Soludo, and that the party only has one governor, who is the Anambra State governor, and there is no quarrel between them.
“This is better and the way forward for our party. Don’t be bothering Prof. Charles Soludo with political bickerings. Allow him to concentrate. In as much as I cannot stop him from being the governor, it is my humble plea that he should be allowed to focus. We are for peace and believe you me, APGA will be run well under my watch.”
This position puts to rest speculations of a rift between him and Soludo, and signals a new era of peace and unity in the party.
He emphasized APGA’s commitment to unity and peace, stating that the party stands for unity and mutual support.
Njoku added that the party has suffered a long time crisis, but it has finally come to an end, and democracy is slowly playing out, and things will get better soon.
He said, “The crisis in APGA is now over. We have suffered for a long time, but it has finally come to an end. I’m thrilled that INEC has recognized me, and the Supreme Court has given their judgment in my favour. Therefore, I wonder where anyone is getting the idea that there is still a crisis.
“As the National Chairman of the party, I am pleased to say that we have elected officers who have won elections. We only have one governor, who is the Anambra State governor, and there is no quarrel between him and me. In fact, there is no quarrel in APGA at all.
“Let’s not overheat the politics in APGA. All we are looking for now is complete peace. APGA stands for ‘being your brother’s keeper’, and that’s what we intend to do. Democracy is slowly playing out, and we’ll see that very soon, things will get better.
I’m confident that with this crisis behind us, we can move forward as a united party, focused on the well-being of our members and the Nigerian people.”
Speaking at a visit to his traditional ruler of Ibeku community in Aboh Mbaise council Area of Imo State, HRH Igwe Onyekachi Ukpabi, as well as grand reception to his supreme Court victory, he also warned political detractors not to distract the governor of Anambra state, Chukwuma Soludo, with political bickering and to allow him to focus on governance for Anambra people.
He said: “The party can only progress when members are united. We call on aggrieved members to put aside their differences and unite to strengthen the party to enable it achieve its common goals. My leadership will be marked by the principles of internal democracy, equity, fairness and the rule of law.
“We call on all national, state and local government officials of the party to take the privilege of leadership seriously and abide by the laws and guiding principles laid by the founder of the party, Chief Chekwas Okorie.
“APGA is a national party not a regional party and the leadership of this great party is a divine privilege. As party members, we cannot continue fighting and this is why I am extending the olive branch to our aggrieved members, for united we stand.”
It was his opinion that; “APGA should not be fighting APGA. All the elected officers should wake up for reconciliation, so as to move APGA forward. Under my watch, we are going to work towards making life for our people better. We want to make APGA a political party that is organized and responsible to the society for it is a national party.”
Political analysts conversant with the internal crisis within the party have since commended the steps taken by Njoku to restore peace and unity within the party.
