The Court of Appeal in the Federal Capital Territory on Thursday dismissed the judgment of a lower court concerning the congresses of All Progressive Congress (APC) in Kano State.
Recall that two factions, one belonging to the state governor, and the other to the Ggruop-7, conducted parallel congresses which eventually produced two party chairmen in the state.
The Court of Appeal in its judgement said the lower court lacks jurisdiction to hear the matter as it was an internal party issue.
The appeal court also said the case would have been appropriately heard in Kano where the congresses in contention were held rather than at the Federal Capital Territory.
Today’s judgement gave Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje a respite, as he will continue to exercise authority over the party in his state.
His faction’s chairman, Abdullahi Abbas, has been resuscitated, while Haruna Danzago of the G-7 faction may have to wait for a possible reversal of the judgement at the Supreme Court.
The appeal court thereby upheld the prayers of the appellants (Ganduje faction) to recognize the existing leadership of the party and discountenance of the lower court ruling.
While there were jubilations in Governor Ganduje’s camp, a top official in the G-7 said, “We are yet to receive briefs from our lawyers on the verdict. Once we get the details of the judgement, we will deliberate and come up with a definite stand.”
