Nigeria’s Opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has urged a Federal High Court in Abuja to declare the All Progressives Congress’ (APC) national convention holding on Saturday, unconstitutional and illegal.
In a suit dated March 25, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/389 2022, and filed by its counsel, Samuel Irabor, the PDP also sought a court order delisting the APC as a political party, with claims that they have failed to meet the requirements of Sections 222(a), 223(b), and 225 of the 1999 Constitution.
Also in the suit, the PDP insisted that the court places an order of injunction restricting the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), from having anything to do with APC as a political party.
The application said a careful study of INEC’s list of APC’s current executives, revealed that the party was being run by a 13-member executive, which is unconstitutional. Thus, the prior actions and subsequent actions undertaken by the defendants should be declared null, and void.
It further argued that by the provision of the Constitution, a political party’s Exco or Governing body must be drawn from 2/3 of the 36 states of federation which amount to 24 members.
Listed as defendants in the case are INEC, the APC, its Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee(CECPC) and the National Chairman of the APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee. The PDP is also praying the court to declare all prior acts and decisions of the Mai Mala Buni-led CECPC before the institution of the suit as well as all subsequent acts, including the convention of March 26 as null and void and proceed further to order a de-registration of the APC by INEC in line with Section 225A of the 1999 constitution.