APC crisis deepens as court extends Giadom’s tenure

A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja has renewed the order empowering Chief Victor Giadom to act as the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for two weeks.

The court also empowered the APC National Vice Chairman (North East), Mustapha Salihu to act as the National Secretary.

Salihu, however, dissociated himself from a purported interim court order, saying it was not in his character to play dirty politics, especially when the party is going through trying times, ThisDay writes.

A court order dated June 16, 2020 obtained at the FCT High Court sitting at Maitama and presided over by Justice S.U Bature and having Salihu as the purported applicant granted the interim order that Salihu should act as national secretary pending “the decision of a validly convened National Executive Committee (NEC) or pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice already filed, whichever comes first.”

The motion ex-parte with number FCT/HC/M/7707/2020 was supported by an affidavit sworn by one Obinna Ugwu.

Those joined in the said application as defendants are: the national legal adviser, Babatunde Ogala, national publicity secretary, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, acting national secretary, Waziri Bulama and the APC.

However, Salihu in a telephone interview with journalists Thursday, said that there was no way he would have been part of the so called interim order when he was at a meeting of the party’s stakeholders from the North-east when the decision was reached to nominate and endorse Architect Waziri Bulama as the acting national secretary of the party.

He stated: “My zone, the North-east has already nominated Architect Waziri Bulama in the presence of the Senate president, APC governors from the zone and other party stakeholders as the acting national secretary. I was at the meeting where this decision was reached. So why now would I go back to obtain a court order to act as national secretary?

“I was not part of such shenanigan. It is not in my character to play such dirty politics and I condemn in strong terms those behind the act. At a time like this when the party is going through trying times, it is such a time that all lovers of the party must pull together to keep the party running.”