Moves to stop Oyegun’s tenure extension suffers setback

The move by some chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to stop the extension of the tenures of the party’s national chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun, and other officials of the party at the national, state, local government, and ward levels on Wednesday met an impediment.

This was as the Federal High Court in Abuja refused the ex parte prayers by the party members to halt the extension.

Unhappy with the APC National Executive Council (NEC) resolution during its meeting on February 27, 2018, to extend the four-year tenure of the party officials due to expire on June 30, 2018, by one year, four of the party members aspiring to run for leadership positions in the party, on March 8, 2018, filed a suit challenging the extension decision.

The plaintiffs are Ademorin Kuye from Lagos State, Sani Mayanchi from Zamfara State, Are Mutiu also from Lagos State, and Machu Tokwat from Kaduna State.

While Kuye said he was aspiring to run for the office of the National Legal Adviser of the APC, the other three claimed they were aspiring to run for the offices of the chairman of the party in their respective states.

Their suit instituted on March 8, 2018 have the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the APC; Odigie-Oyegun (sued for himself and on behalf of the national, state, local government area, and ward officials of the APC elected between April and June 2014); and the National Organising Secretary of the party, Osita Isunaso as respondents.

The suit marked, FHC/ABJ/CS/237/2018, was accompanied with a motion for interlocutory injunctions, and an ex parte motion seeking, among others, for the court to temporarily halt the implementation of the tenure extension pending the hearing of the motion for interlocutory injunction.

But in his ruling on the matter after the plaintiffs’ counsel, Mr. Ahmed Raji (SAN), moved the ex parte motion on Wednesday, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, granted four of the prayers sought in the suit but sacked three others bordering on interim restraining orders.

Justice Dimgba, in denying the prayers for the restraining orders, ruled that it would be “improper to grant them without hearing the respondents”.

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While granting accelerated hearing of the suit, Dimgba held that rather than granting the interim orders, the court would rather determine the substantive suit before June 30, when the tenure of‎ the officials would be deemed to have expired.

He then ordered that the four respondents; INEC, APC, Odigie-Oyegun and Isunaso be put on notice to enable them react to the application for interim injunction.

 

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