The Giadom led faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) appears to be disunited as the North East National Vice Chairman, Salihu Mustapha has applied to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court to strike out the order making him the Acting National Secretary of the party.
Giadom who assumed the position of APC Acting National Chairman after Appeal Court upheld the suspension of Adams Oshiomhole, had approached a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court which issued an order that Mustapha should be allowed to carry out the functions of Acting National Secretary of the party.
But Mustpha immediately rejected the order saying, he was aware that such plea was entered in March but the recent resolution of the North/East Zone endorsing the nomination of Waziri Bulama for the office of the National Secretary of APC which is forwarded to NEC for ratification has overtaken such a plea from the Court.
He explained that the North East stakeholders, involving the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha and all APC Governors and members of the National Assembly from the zone, met and endorsed Bulama’s nomination for National Secretary and forward same to NEC for ratification.
Mustpha, however, refuted the publication of a National Newspaper that he was not aware of suite in the court, stressing that it is mischievous for anybody to publish that he was not aware of suite in the FCT High Court purporting to make him Acting National Secretary but he only said he did not continue the suite since his zone had resolved the nomination of Bulama.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja, Mustapha said: “I have directed that the suite and order making me the Acting National Secretary of APC should be struck out.
“I was part of the North-East APC stakeholders that met and endorsed the nomination of Arc Bulama and cannot go to court to seek for such position again.
“We the N/E APC believe in the competence of Arc. Bulama and have appointed him into the position waiting for his ratification by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party.
“I am striking the suite entered in March out because I believe that the issue has been resolved and for the interest and peace of the party.
“Actually the lawyers that got that order are my lawyers. Sometimes in early March, I went to seek for that order when the party was in crisis. But after that time, as a zone, we had a political solution which culminated in a zonal executive committee meeting attended by the SGF, the senate president, the three governors from the zone, former governors, all the senators and House of Reps members from the zone.
“At that meeting we endorsed the candidature of Arch. Waziri Bulama as the national secretary of the party, which we are to forward to the NEC for ratification. The decision was unanimous. That decision happened Saturday last week, we came back to Abuja and by Wednesday or Thursday, the Appeal Court confirmed the suspension of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole as the national chairman of our party.
“Between the time we reached that political solution endorsing Bulama and the time the court removed Oshiomhole was barely three days and my lawyers were not aware that we had already reached that decision. And I also did not debrief them.
“But as we speak, we are making all arrangements with my lawyers to seek for discontinuation and rescind the prayer we made in court because for me the zonal decision supersedes any other prayers pending in court. We are going to vacate that order to allow Architect Bulama’s name to be sent to NEC for ratification as the national secretary of our party.”
The APC National Officer also said he is also aware that the FCT High Court granted the Deputy National Secretary, Giadom an order to Act as APC National Chairman in March and the renewal on June 16.
He said, “I am very much aware of that suit 6607. In fact, I was the one who instituted that suit earlier asking that Victor Giadom be made the acting national chairman so that we call National Executive Committee NEC meeting and submit the party to NEC. That order was granted sometime in March and the court in its magnanimity has renewed that order and we are still committed that NEC should be held so that we submit the party to it”.
