Politics
S’Court Mandates INEC To Recognise Njoku As APGA Chairman
The Supreme Court has directed INEC to recognise Chief Edozie Njoku as the National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA.
The All Progressives Grand Alliance’s (APGA) National Chairman, Chief Edozie Njoku, has been recognised by the Supreme Court, and the Independent National Election Commission, INEC, has been ordered to implement that decision.
The Supreme Court sent the electoral body the Certified True Copy (CTC) of its decision regarding the conflict over APGA leadership between Chief Victor Oye and Njoku through its Registrar for Litigation, Zainab Garba.
The Litigation and Prosecution Department of INEC received the proof of service of the judgement dated April 5, 2023, which was in regard to an appeal marked SC/CV/687/2021, between Chief Jude Okeke against APGA & others, at 3:54 pm on the same day.
A copy of the document read: “I forward herewith for your information and necessary action, the order under the hand of the Honourable, the Chief Justice of Nigeria/Presiding Judge, and the seal of the Court in respect of the above appeal.
“I also enclose herewith the certified copy of the order and of the judgment of the Court”.
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The Supreme Court recognised on March 24 in a unanimous decision by a five-judge panel that it had mistakenly listed Chief Victor Oye as the national chairman of the party in a judgement it had issued in 2021.
The supreme court stated in the lead decision written by Justice Mohammed Lawal that it has the authority to reconsider its decision and amend any “unintentional slip or error” that comes to its attention.
As a result, it issued an order expunging the part of the verdict that listed Oye as the national chairman of the party.
The ruling followed a motion that was brought before the court by Chief Njoku.
Njoku had in an application he filed through his team of lawyers led by Mr. Chike Onyemenam, SAN, urged the apex court to correct a typographical error in its judgement, which he said wrongly handed the leadership of the party to Chief Oye.
Meanwhile, reacting to the latest development, Njoku said he was optimistic that INEC would comply with the directive of the Supreme Court by effecting the necessary changes on its website.
“I am confident and optimistic that INEC will obey the Supreme Court Judgment having been served with the CTC”, Njoku stated, saying the party would not issue any ultimatum to the electoral body.
“We are looking at one or two weeks time frame for the order to be obeyed,” he added.
However, the factional national chairman of APGA, Chief Oye, has vowed to approach the apex court for further clarification on the matter.
