As the court ordered the return to status quo ante, some APC governors met Wednesday evening at Kebbi Governor’s lodge and later moved the meeting to Ekiti lodge after the reported suspension of the party chair, OBSERVERS TIMES.
The source revealed that more governors had already joined the “Oshiomhole must go” governors swelling the number to 15 and expected to meet Thursday.
The top party source confided In OBSERVERS TIMES said: “I can tell you that some APC governors met on Wednesday but their numbers have increased to 15 now and they are bill to meet on Thursday’s evening to perfect the strategy to remove the national chairman and that three ministers were also part of the plot to sack the APC boss”
When contacted on phone, the source who is also a chieftain of APC from the South-east said: “The struggle to remove Adams Oshiomhole is beyond the governors alone, some cabinet ministers and other appointees of this administration are doing everything possible to rescue the party now.”
NWC and fresh order
Meanwhile, a member of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) has reacted to the court order reinstating Oshiomhole.
Briefing newsmen Thursday at the national secretariat of APC, the party’s National Vice Chairman from the North-east, Comrade Saliu Mustapha, said: “I want to tell you from my knowledge of law that two courts of coordinate jurisdiction cannot sit on appeal or an order or judgement given by each other.
“A federal high court cannot sit on appeal from FCT High Court. The only court that has the jurisdiction to sit on appeal is the court of appeal in this case and the court order of the FCT High Court was served yesterday.
“Most of you(journalists) have the copy of order and it is an elementary law that first in time prevails, that of Abuja High Court came earlier and we seek for interlocutory injunction and there is affidavit of urgency which seeks to prevail certain kinds of mischief which we prayed that the court should help prevail which they did. So, if you look at the main reason, why that interlocutory order is granted, I don’t think that a Federal High Court of the same jurisdiction will now come and set it aside.
“So, I don’t want to say much about the order but I want to say that it is only the court of appeal that can vacate this injunction. As you can see, we are in the secretariats and we are running the affairs of the party. So the suspension still prevails until the hearing of the matter or if there is any contrary order from the court of appeal.”
Asked to react to the appointment of national officers, Mustapha said: “That’s laughable because that one is what amuses me most and it is very pathetic and disturbing because we saw an announcement that purported that we approved nominations of three officers on the 14th of January, one of this officers which is the deputy chairman south, even the nomination from his state came as the deputy chairman on the 28 of February, almost 40 days after the date of the purported meeting, the meeting we had in the 14th January.
“I came out of the meeting and I told newsmen that the meeting was stopped because they were trying to do illegality on only the national secretary, the matter of the other people was referred to the zones, nobody discussed it.”
