The immediate past national legal adviser of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Babatunde Ogala, has canvassed the reinstatement of the dissolved National Working Committee excluding its chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, to avoid the emergence of legal barriers with the planned congresses and national convention.
Ogala, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said in a statement yesterday that the fate of the party is at stake as all its actions “will continue to hang on a very thin thread in the face of the progressive attitude of our courts on election and political matters.”
He was reacting to the minority ruling of the Supreme Court on the election of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State which raised questions on whether the office and powers of APC National Chairman can be exercised by Governor Mai Mala Buni who is the sitting Governor of Yobe State.
“The reinstatement of the dissolved National Working Committee (NWC) without the erstwhile Chairman who was suspended from office by Order of a court of competent jurisdiction should be seriously considered in order to cloak the impending Ward, Local Government Area and State Congresses as well as National Convention with the imprint of legality,” Ogala said.
He said although many of the NWC members have since moved on to better things and would be reluctant to return to their positions, their reinstatement “is the hard decision we must all take for the sake of saving our dear party.’
Ogala said while he has not seen the Supreme Court judgment, it is “safe to conclude that the judicial attitude of the apex court is that APC would be dealt a fatal blow should Governor Mai Mala Buni remain at the helms of affairs of the APC and he is joined in a future suit.
