By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

ABUJA– The National Chairman of the National Rescue Movement, NRM, Chief Edozie Njoku, on Thursday, urged the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to obey a subsisting court judgement that settled the leadership crisis in the party.

Njoku decried that over five months after the party conducted the Emergency Convention that produced him as its National Chairman, INEC had yet to recognise or relate with him in that capacity.

He said the electoral body based its decision on the fact that it did not monitor the said convention.

However, Njoku, who spoke with newsmen at the premises of a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Asokoro, where a case that was filed by aggrieved members of the party was thrown out, dismissed INEC’s position on the matter.

He noted that the Federal High Court in Abuja had in a ruling it delivered on January 16, in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/ 45/ 25, issued an order of mandamus that directed the electoral body to monitor the convention the NRM held the next day and accept its outcome.

According to him, the said convention was organised to correct the lopsidedness and lack of Federal Character in the National Executive Committee, NEC, of the party, in compliance with section 82(1) and 83 (1) of the Electoral Act.

He added that following INEC’s refusal to monitor the exercise, the party, re-approached the court and secured a favourable judgement that validated the outcome of the convention.

Njoku stressed that the court, in the judgement that was delivered by Justice Obiora Egwuatu, held that INEC’s failure to monitor NRM’s convention amounted to a refusal to discharge its constitutional duty, contrary to extant provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022, and therefore unconstitutional and unlawful.

He added that Justice James Omotosho of the same court had in another judgement, held that a political party was only expected to give notice of its convention to INEC.

He said the court held that it was at the discretion of the electoral body to attend the convention it was invited or not.

Besides, he noted that neither INEC nor any dissatisfied member of the party appealed against the high court judgement.

The NRM Chairman argued that since the 90 days period allowed for an appeal to be lodged against the judgement has elapsed, the party is left with no choice than to initiate a contempt action against the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu.

He said the party has through its lawyer, Mr. Oladimeji Ekengba of Joe Agi, SAN, & Associates, in a letter dated June 4, notified the INEC boss of the consequences of his continued disobedience to the court judgement.

Part of the letter to the INEC Chairman, a copy of which was sighted by Vanguard, read: “We urge you to obey the judgement of court and purge yourself of this contemptuous act.

“Should you fail, we shall not hesitate to urge the court to commit you to prison, in line with the rule of law. A stitch in time saves nine.”

Meanwhile, Njoku said he was optimistic that a united NRM would serve as a strong opposition platform, ahead of the 2027 general election.

“Our happiness is that the crisis in NRM is over. We are going to build a formidable political party.

“Even though we are not considering the idea of a coalition yet, however, we are going to have a small meeting next week. After then, we will decide.

“Already, we have gotten 18 new offices. We have to build ourselves first before thinking of a coalition,” he added.