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From Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
A constitutional lawyer and former member of the House of Representatives, Kayode Oladele, has faulted the argument of a former governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State, Abayomi Semako Hunye, that his participation in the party’s governorship nomination process had effectively extinguished his suspension.
Oladele, who stated this in a statement he personally signed, declared that the screening and clearance of Hunye did not automatically reinstate or invalidate an earlier suspension imposed on him by the party.
Recall that the APC had maintained that Hunye was suspended following disciplinary proceedings originating from Tube Ward in Ipokia Local Government Area of Ogun State. The disciplinary decisions were subsequently ratified through the appropriate party structures.
Hunye had disputed the party’s position, arguing, among other things, that after the purported suspension, the APC allowed him to obtain its governorship nomination form, screened and cleared him, and permitted him to participate in the governorship nomination process.
Oladele, in the statement, however, contended that Hunye’s argument was based on a misconception of the party’s screening and disciplinary procedures.
According to him, screening for an elective position and disciplinary action against a party member are separate processes governed by different provisions and exercised by different organs of the APC.
“The central legal question is not whether Hunye was subsequently screened or cleared. The relevant question is: when, how, and by whom was his suspension lifted?
“Was there an appeal against the suspension? Was there a resolution reversing it? Did a competent organ of the APC review the disciplinary action and set it aside? Was there a formal decision reinstating him? If Hunye maintains that his suspension has been lifted, he should produce the decision that lifted it.”
He argued further that those subsequent actions could not, without an identifiable decision of a competent party organ, be automatically interpreted as reinstatement.
