Suit seeking my removal as APC chair baseless — Ganduje

The National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, on Monday, hailed the the Federal High Court in Abuja for striking out a suit seeking his removal from office.

The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/599/2024, was filed by the North Central APC Forum led by Saleh Zazzaga.

Listed as defendants were Ganduje, the APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The plaintiff challenged the propriety of Ganduje’s appointment as the APC National Chairman when he is not from the North Central geo-political zone.

But in a ruling on Monday, Justice Inyang Ekwo struck out the suit after upholding preliminary objections filed by the APC and INEC in opposition to the suit.

Addressing newsmen at the party secretariat in Abuja on Monday, Ganduje described the suit as baseless and lacking in merit.

The APC National Chairman made the statement when he received a delegation of the North Central APC Elders Forum that came to congratulate him on the legal victory.

He said, “We thank you for congratulating us on the judgment on the litigation against my office and myself. There is no doubt the allegation was baseless and as such, it has been treated by the court of law.

“I appreciate the North Central elders who have been coming to see me even amidst the controversies, they still came.  So those who are insecure can go to court. But we will continue to respond until we completely succeed.”

In his ruling, Justice Ekwo agreed with the contention in the APC’s preliminary objection that the plaintiff lacked the locus standi to file the suit.

He also agreed with INEC’s preliminary objection that the name the plaintiff had sued in ‘Northern Central APC forum’ was not a registered body.

Justice Ekwo, in his ruling, held that based on the contentions INEC, “the onus rests on the claimant to present a certificate of registration from the Corporate Affairs Commission.”

The judge, however, held that the claimant lacked the juristic personality to institute the suit having not been registered in law, and therefore had no legal power and capacity to file the suit.

Furthermore, the judge said the claimant failed to explore the internal mechanism of the political party for peaceful resolution of issues on the subject matter before approaching the court.

“I hereby dismiss this suit for lack of juristic personality of the claimant.

“The claimant has no locus standi to institute the suit and I make an order striking out the suit for lack of locus standi.

“The subject matter is an internal affair of the political party. I hereby strike out the suit for lack of locus standi,” the judge held.