Zamfara APC Leadership Feud: Court Fixes 2nd December For Final Judgement
Soon after the decamp, the acting national chairman of the party governor Mai Mala Buni of Borno state on a working visit to Zamfara, dissolved the then existing exco of the state party and appointed governor Matawalle as the APC leader in the state at the instance of which a caretaker committee was constituted to handle the affairs of the party. The erstwhile governor Yari and his loyalists hurriedly reacted by rushing to court, challenging the action as illegal and undemocratic. A court later ruled that both contending groups should maintain a position of status quo until the outcome of the court decision
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Zamfara APC Leadership Feud: Court Fixes 2nd December For Final Judgement.
By Aminu Abdullahi Gusau.
The Zamfara state high court sitting in Gusau has last Wednesday, slated 2nd December for final judgement on internal crises within the All Progressive Congress (APC) between the incumbent Governor Bello Muhammed Matawalle and the former Governor Abdul Aziz Yari Abubakar.
The genesis of the legal feud is traced to the time of the great decamp on 29th June this year, when Governor Matawalle decamped from his PDP opposition party to APC national ruling party.
Soon after the decamp, the acting national chairman of the party governor Mai Mala Buni of Borno state on a working visit to Zamfara, dissolved the then existing exco of the state party and appointed governor Matawalle as the APC leader in the state at the instance of which a caretaker committee was constituted to handle the affairs of the party.
The erstwhile governor Yari and his loyalists hurriedly reacted by rushing to court, challenging the action as illegal and undemocratic.
A court later ruled that both contending groups should maintain a position of status quo until the outcome of the court decision
Since then, the legal feud kept too long until last Wednesday, when Justice Aminu Bappa of Federal have high court Gusau completed the proceedings and fixed 2nd December for final judgement.
In an interview soon after the court sitting, the lead counsel to the defendant, barrister Pwahoumdi Lasco, said though he was satisfied with the proceedings, he would not comment on the direction of the judgement.
"I cannot preempt the court judgement, and nobody can do that.
"We have presented our case and they have presented their
own and it is now left for the court to decide", he said.
On his part, the solicitor to the plaintiff and the lead counsel Daniel Enwelum, said "we are challenging the action of the acting national chairman of the APC governor Mai Mala Buni who at a rally, off handedly dissolved the existing state exco and handed over the party to the governor as the party leader" he said.
Barrister Enwelum explained that in the first place, there is no position of leader of the party and the provision of the constitution of the APC, articles 13, 14 and 17, particularly article 14, "does not give him the mandate to do such thing", he stressed.
He however said that the court proceedings have now been concluded and is now left for the court to decide the final judgement on the coming 2nd of December this year.
On the contention by the defendants that court has ruled that both contending groups should maintain status quo, the Barrister explained that in legal interpretation, " maintain status quo" means that each group should stop and avoid doing anything that could temper with the substance of the court proceedings", he explained.
He however added that the last ward congress done by the Matawalle's group was not proper and was therefore unlawful and unconstitutional as it was capable of distorting the main substance of the court proceedings.
