Respect court judgment fully, Action Alliance tells INEC

From Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure

The Action Alliance (AA) has challenged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to review its decision on its level of compliance with the judgment of the Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo, the Osun State capital which ordered the commission to recognize all the members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party elected at the elective national convention of the party held in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital in 2023.

Rising from the National Think Thank Committee and NEC meetings of the party, the leadership of the party insisted that INEC only complied partially with the judgment of the court as it failed to put the name of the National Chairman of the party, Hon Adekunle Rufai Omoaje on its portal contrary to the judgement of the court delivered by Justice Funmilola Demi-Ajayi.

The party in a communique issued at the end of the meeting and signed by the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr Olu Omotosho expressed concern on the inability of INEC to comply fully with the court judgment.

Omotosho maintained that the matter before the Supreme Court which INEC referred to as basis for its action was a different case entirely, declaring that the judgment of the court was clear and unambiguous and therefore expressed worry on the attitude of INEC.

He said Kenneth Udeze had since 2019 seized to be a member of the party, having been expelled from the party, adding that his expulsion was ratified by the National Think Thank Committee of the party, which is the highest ruling organ of the party.

Also, he recalled that the Supreme Court had in its judgment affirmed the expulsion of Udeze from the party.

Omotosho stated that “our party began to have this stalemate from 2019, the year Mr Kenneth Udeze got suspended by his own executive for gross infractions bothering on misappropriation of party funds, high-handedness and anti-party activities.

“Follow-up to that, a disciplinary committee was set up to listen to him for fair hearing, but he refused to attend the four hearing over a period of six months. At the end, the committee made recommendations to the National Think-Tank Committee of our party, which is the highest ruling organ about its findings.

“Upon the completion and submission of the committee findings, the committee made further attempts to hear from him and he rebuffed again. At the end, the committee made recommendations to the convention for his expulsion from the party. The next convention that held on the 14th of February 2020, affirmed Kenneth Udeze’s expulsion finally, and organized the election that brought in the National Executive led by Hon Adekunle Rufai Omo-Aje to lead the party forward.

“Ever since expulsion, Kenneth Udeze has been trying to cut corners using backdoor tactics to lay claim to the leadership of the party, rather than challenging his expulsion in a legal court. Till date, he has lost more than 30 times in different courts using a window of intrigue to impersonate the National Chairman of Action Alliance. On a couple of such legal tests, he was referred to as “a meddlesome interloper” by the court.

“If the membership contest of Kenneth has been rested with the Supreme Court affirming his expulsion as subsisting and INEC has been in receipt of same judgement, then, what is the fallacious excuse that the commission is waiting for the decision of an appeal that has nothing to do with the case already settled? Sensibility holds that a man who is not a citizen of Nigeria cannot stand for election to be her President, so also, a man that is not a member of a political party should not be seen and wrongfully recognize as the National Chairman,” he added.