APGA LEADERSHIP CRISIS: Okorie Demands Recognition of Njoku as Authentic Party National Chairman

By Olisemeka Sony

The founder of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief (Dr) Chekwas Okorie has raised fresh dust over the leadership crisis rocking the party.
He called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to swiftly recognize Chief Edozie Njoku as the authentic national chairman and other members of the National Working Committee (NWC) elected during the party’s national convention at Owerri, Imo State.

He warned that failure of the electoral umpire to derecognise Chief Dr. Victor Oye and his NWC as APGA national leadership may spell doom for the 2023 national election.

According to Okorie, the candidature of those whose names and particulars have been submitted to INEC by Dr. Victor Oye are not sustainable and cannot stand the test of judicial scrutiny.

Hear him: “Chief Edozie Njoku is the obvious beneficiary of the corrected version of the judgment of the Supreme Court duly signed by the presiding Hon. Justice Mary Ukaego Peter-Odili and certified by the Registrar of the Supreme Court.

” Dr. Victor Oye had enjoyed the recognition of INEC based on the earlier version of the judgment that contained the mistake. It is fair and appropriate that Njoku should be granted similar recognition by the commission soon after the correction was made by the apex court

The former APGA presidential aspirant further declared that INEC was arming other rival political parties with weapons to challenge APGA victories in the 2023 general election on the ground of invalid nomination process.

“INEC should avoid being accused of aiding and abetting the extinction of APGA”, he warned.

Okorie also disclosed that the position of Professor Chukwuma Soludo is not under threat by the latest judicial development since he had taken the oath of office as the Governor of Anambra State on the 17th of March, 2022.

He stressed that since Soludo is protected by the relevant provisions of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution (as amended) and “since he is the de facto leader of APGA, I urge him to intervene at this critical moment to save APGA from imminent peril.”

Okorie adds that Soludo “is in the best position to rein in Dr. Victor Oye and bring him and the National Chairman, Chief Edozie Njoku to a roundtable to harmonize and regularize the nomination of APGA candidates for the 2023 general election.”

He, however warned that “If INEC continuous to prevaricate on APGA matter and Governor Chukwuma Soludo does not intervene, all APGA candidates will suffer avoidable double jeopardy.

“In view of the ominous implication to the fate of the 2023 general election, in the event of excluding the authentic APGA from participating in the 2023 general election, l enjoin President Muhammadu Buhari, the leadership of the National Assembly, the Federal Ministry of Justice, pro-democracy organizations, political parties and other well-meaning Nigerians to weigh-in on this matter and call INEC to order before irreparable damage is done to Nigeria’s march to full blown and respectable democracy in the world.

READ FULL TEXT OF CHIEF CHEKWAS OKORIE’S PRESS CONFERENCE DELIVERED AT ABUJA ON MONDAY 27TH JUNE 2022

THE WILLFUL PREVARICATION OF THE INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION (INEC) TO RECOGNIZE CHIEF EDOZIE NJOKU AS THE AUTHENTIC AND LAWFUL NATIONAL CHAIRMAN OF THE ALL PROGRESSIVE GRAND ALLIANCE, APGA, POSES GREAT DANGER TO THE 2023 GENERAL ELECTION

1. In suit NoFHC/BAUCS/10/2020 Chief Edoze Njoku, APGA and 2 others were Plaintiffs. Counsel for the Plaintiffs were C.N. Nwogbo Esq. and Akinlani Ajibade Esq. Dr. Victor Oye and INEC had C.I. Mbaeri Esq. and Anthony Onyeri Esq. as their Counsel respectively.

The Counsel for the Applicants and the Counsel to Chief Dr. Victor Oye both claimed in their submissions to be representing APGA. In his well-considered ruling on 6th day of April, 2022, on the conflicting claims on the legal representation of APGA, the Hon. Justice A.R. Mohammed stated as follows; “In view of the position of the law as enunciated in the above stated case and the content of the exhibit CA2, this court have no option but to recognize C.N. Nwagbo Esq. as counsel authorized by the 4th Applicant to institute this action in its name”. For the avoidance of doubt C.N. Nwagbo is the Counsel that represented APGA that held a lawful and legitimate convention of the Party at Owerri, Imo State, which elected Chief Edozie Njoku as National Chairman and other members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the 1st Respondent. This judgment was duly served on INEC with a certified true copy. APGA followed up this with an Application to INEC to recognize the duly elected officers of the party accordingly. It is pertinent to state that up till this time there is no Appeal on this Ruling instituted in any court anywhere in Nigeria. INEC has turned the other face on the Application of APGA for recognition.

2. In the build up to the Anambra State Governorship Election on November 6th, 2021, a certain Chief Jude Okeke rushed to Birnin Kudu in Jigawa State and filed suit no JDU/022/2021. It was claimed in this suit that the National Convention of APGA held at Owerri elected Chief Edozie Njoku as National Chairman and himself Chief Jude Okeke as Deputy National Chairman (South). The said Chief Jude Okeke further claimed that the National Chairman, Chief Edozie Njoku was suspended and the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Party elected him as the Acting National Chairman of the Party. All this took place without the knowledge of the National Chairman Chief Edozie Njoku, who was purported to have been suspended. Note also that Dr. Victor Oye was never mentioned anywhere in the Suit, not to talk of being referred to as National Chairman or being suspended by Chief Jude Okeke’s imaginary faction of APGA. INEC in A jiffy swiftly complied with the judgment of the Jigawa High Court and promptly replaced the name of Professor Chukwuma Soludo with that of Hon. Chukwuma Umeoji being the Governorship Candidate nominated by the Jude Okeke faction of APGA in an unprecedented speedy compliance of the judgment of a Trial Court. The Kano Court of Appeal set aside the judgment of the Jigawa High Court on the grounds that the court lacked territorial jurisdiction to entertain the Suit in the first place. Chief Jude Okeke filed an appeal at the Supreme Court without delay.

On the 14th day of October, 2021 a panel of five Justices of the Supreme Court led by Honourable Justice Mary Ukaego Peter-Odili (JSC) in a judgment which consolidated Suits nos SC/CV/687/2021 and SC/CV/686/2021, upheld the judgment of the appeal court in Kano State. The apex court agreed that the Jigawa High Court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the Jude Okeke Suit. On the claim that the National Chairman of APGA Chief Edozie Njoku was suspended by the party, the Honourable Justice Mary Ukaego Peter-Odili mistakenly stated that, “It needs be stated at this point that the dispute being who should be the Acting National Chairman of the 1st respondent, APGA and whether the National Chairman, Dr. Victor Oye was validly replaced are within the confines of the internal affairs of the 1st respondent which is not justiciable. There is a plethora of judicial authorities on the point hence it is surprising that this matter is cropping at up this time”.

The eagle eyes of the Chief Edozie Njoku’s Counsel identified the mistake contained in the judgment and applied to the Supreme Court Panel on May 6, 2022 in a letter addressed to Hon. Justice Mary Ukaego Peter-Odili titled “REQUEST TO CORRECT THE MISPLACEMENT OF NAMES IN YOUR LORDSHIP’S JUDGMENT IN SUIT NO SC/CV/686/2021 AS CONTAINED IN PAGE 13 PARAGRAPH 1”.

“Upon finding the application to be meritorious, the mistake was corrected in accordance with the clear provisions of Order 8 Rule 16 of the Supreme Court of Nigeria which states that “The Supreme Court can or by a letter (application), review any judgment once given and delivered by it save to correct any clerical mistake or some error arising from any accidental slip or mission, or do vary the judgment or order as to give effect to its meaning or intention”. In the correction that followed the name of the Chief Edozie Njoku now replaced that of Dr. Victor Oye as the 2nd Respondent and the corrected portion of the judgment now reads; “It needs be stated at this point that the dispute being who should be acting National Chairman of the 1st respondent, APGA and whether the Chairman, Chief Edozie Njoku was validly replaced are within the confines of the internal affairs of the 1st respondent which is not justiciable. There is a plethora of judicial authorities on the point that this matter is cropping up at this time”.

It was convenient for INEC to promptly comply with the October 14, 2020 judgment of the Supreme Court which contained the mistake, which Dr. Victor Oye Celebrated as having been affirmed the National Chairman of APGA by the Apex Court. In fact INEC complied within 48 hours of its delivery, but the same INEC has turned its face away from the duly corrected judgment nearly 60 days after the correction.

The corrected judgment has been subjected to repeated verifications and unwarranted investigation without finding faults either with the veracity of the correction or its authenticity.

It is pertinent to state that for the first time in 18 years, since 2004, there is no APGA leadership dispute pending in any courts in Nigeria. Judgments in Suit nos FHC/BAU/CS/10/2021 and SC/CV/686/2021 unambiguously affirmed chief Edozie Njoku as the lawful and authentic National Chairman of APGA, thus the only. National Chairman of the party legally qualified to nominate valid candidates to contest the 2023 general election on the platform of APGA. INEC must have an ulterior intention to instigate another round of litigations in a political party that has finally found peace after 18 long years of various forms of leadership crises some of which were fuelled by INEC. INEC should give APGA the liberty and latitude to develop and grow like other political parties. APGA is one of the two oldest surviving political Parties in Nigeria along with the PDP, but has suffered a debilitating stunted growth due to unprecedented prolonged leadership crises.

Gentlemen of the Press, the following can be discerned from this presentation:

1. Dr. Victor Oye has no claim to any lawful National Convention of APGA which legitimized his emergence as the National Chairman of the Party for his second term in office since 2019.
2. The 2019 National Convention of APGA held at Owerri, Imo State, which elected Chief Edozie Njoku as National Chairman and other members of the National Working Committee (NWC) as officers of the Party has been affirmed by the Federal High Court in Abuja as lawful and binding.
3. The Candidature of those whose names and particulars have been submitted to INEC by Dr. Victor Oye are not sustainable and cannot stand the test of judicial scrutiny.

3b. Chief Edozie Njoku is the obvious beneficiary of the corrected version of the judgment of the Supreme Court duly signed by the presiding Hon. Justice Mary Ukaego Peter-Odili and certified by the Registrar of the Supreme Court. Dr. Victor Oye had enjoyed the recognition of INEC based on the earlier version of the judgment that contained the mistake. It is fair and appropriate that Chief Edozie Njoku should be granted similar recognition by the commission soon after the correction was made by the apex court

4. INEC, is advertently or inadvertently arming other rival political parties with weapons to challenge APGA victories in the 2023 general election on the ground of invalid nomination process. INEC should avoid being accused of aiding and abetting the extinction of APGA.

Since the tenure of Professor Chukwuma Soludo is secure, having taken the oath of office as the Governor of Anambra State on the 17th of March, 2022 and therefore protected by the relevant provisions of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution (as amended) and since he is the de facto leader of APGA I urge him to intervene at this critical moment to save APGA from imminent peril. He is in the best position to rein in Dr. Victor Oye and bring him and the National Chairman, Chief Edozie Njoku to a roundtable to harmonize and regularize the nomination of APGA candidates for the 2023 general election. If INEC continuous to prevaricate on APGA matter and Governor Chukwuma Soludo does not intervene, all APGA candidates will suffer avoidable double jeopardy.

In view of the ominous implication to the fate of the 2023 general election, in the event of excluding the authentic APGA from participating in the 2023 general election, l enjoin President Muhammadu Buhari, the leadership of the National Assembly, the Federal Ministry of Justice, pro-democracy organizations, political parties and other well-meaning Nigerians to weigh-in on this matter and call INEC to order before irreparable damage is done to Nigeria’s march to full blown and respectable democracy in the world.

Thank you for your esteemed audience.

CHIEF DR. CHEKWAS OKORIE
FOUNDER/PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
ALL PROGRESSIVES GRAND ALLIANCE (APGA)