By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

Legal moves by the embattled National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Adams Oshiomhole, to set-aside his suspension, suffered a setback on Monday, as the Court of Appeal in Abuja, deferred hearing on the matter.

Though two separate appeals marked CA/A/187/2020 and CA/A/188/2020, which Oshiomhole lodged to challenge the interim injunction of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory that suspended him from office on March 4, were slated on the cause list, however, the appellate failed to sit on the case.

A three-man panel of Justices of the court led by Justice Stephen Adah, had after they concluded hearing on other appeals on the cause list, told Oshiomhole’s team of lawyers that another panel would return to hear his appeal.

However, about five minutes after the Justice Adah-led panel retired to their chambers, a clerk of the appellate court came back and informed all the parties that the appeal would be heard at a later date.

The court clerk said the return date would be duly communicated to the parties.

Oshiomhole, who was visibly displeased with the development, stormed out of the courtroom in the company of a handful of his supporters that included a governorship aspirant of the APC in Edo State, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu.

The development came barely 24 hours to a National Executive Council, NEC, meeting that was called by members of the National Working Committee, NWC, of the party that are opposed to Oshiomhole’s chairmanship.

It will be recalled that Oshiomhole had in his four-ground of appeal, maintained that only the NWC or the NEC of APC could suspended him from office.

Oshiomhole, contended that the Abuja high court lacked the powers to temporarily suspend him as the National Chairman of the APC.

According to him: “The learned trial court erred in law and arrived at a wrong conclusion which occasioned a miscarriage of justice when at the interlocutory stage it decided the question that the Appellant in the performance of his duties as National Chairman of the 2nd Appellant would interfere with the 1st to 6th Respondents’ membership rights of the 2nd Appellant.

“The issue of the1st Appellant’s performance of the 1st Appellant’s duties of National Chairman of the 2nd Appellant is a matter which arises from the substantive issues for determination and claim and ought not to be determined at the interlocutory stage during the determination of the Motion for interlocutory injunction”.

Oshiomhole also argued that, “The learned trial court erred in law and arrived at a wrong conclusion which occasioned a miscarriage of justice when after ordering the filing of pleading, it immediately set down Motion for interlocutory injunction for hearing in the absence of pleadings.

“The trial court determined the Motion for interlocutory injunction, without recourse to triable issues which ought to have been discerned from pleadings”.

In ground-three of the appeal, he argued that, “The learned trial court erred in law and arrived at a wrong conclusion which occasioned a miscarriage of justice when it held that the 1st to 6th Respondents had disclosed a legal right that required to be protected by the grant of the interlocutory injunction.

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“The 1st to 6th Respondents disclosed no right enshrined in the 2nd Appellant’s constitution, entitling a member of the 2ndAppellant to the suspension of the National Chairman of the 2nd Appellant, without recourse to the National Working Committee and National Executive Council of the 2nd Appellant”.

The suspended APC Chairman also argued that the trial court “erred in law and arrived at a wrong conclusion which occasioned a miscarriage of justice when in deciding the balance of convenience it held that the disruption capable of being occasioned by the grant of the interlocutory injunction outweighed the inconvenience to be suffered by the 1st to 6thRespondents”.

He therefore sought for an order allowing the appeal and setting aside the interlocutory injunction suspending him as the National Chairman of the APC.

The Inspector General of the Police and the State Security Service were cited as the 7th and 8th Respondents in the appeal.

Justice Danlami Senchi of the FCT high court at Jabi had in a ruling on March 4, ordered Oshiomhole to stop parading himself as the National Chairman of the APC, pending the determination of a substantive suit that was brought against him by six aggrieved members of the party.

The plaintiffs, Mustapha Salihu, Anslem Ojezua, Alhaji Sani Gomna, Oshawo Steven, Hon. Fani Wabulari and Evang. Princewill Ejogharado, had in their suit marked FCT/HC/CV/837/2020, insisted that Oshiomhole had no right to continue to perform the duties of the National Chairman of the APC, having been suspended as a member of the party from his Etsako ward 10, in Edo State.

They argued that since his suspension remained extant, his rights as a member of the party had abated.

Though the court fixed April 7 to hear the substantive matter, it however agreed with the plaintiffs, noting that Oshiomhole failed to appeal against his suspension from the party.

Justice Senchi, held that the 2nd Respondent (APC), wrongfully retained Oshiomhole as the National Chairman of the party in view of the affidavit evidence before the court.

Consequently, aside temporarily suspending him from office, the trial judge directed the party to stop acknowledging Oshiomhole as its National Chairman, adding that he should be denied access to the party’s Secretariat.

Justice Senchi warned that political parties must be bound by their constitution.

Vanguard