The Federal High Court in Abuja has postponed the hearing of a case aimed at removing Abdullahi Ganduje, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), from his position until July 5.
Naija News understands that the court, chaired by Justice Inyang Ekwo, took a break to allow the parties involved to reply to a response to a counter-affidavit submitted by Ganduje, who is facing challenges to his leadership.
The case, identified as FHC/ABJ/CS/599/2024, was filed by dissatisfied members of the APC, representing the North Central APC Forum.
The group challenging Ganduje, led by Saleh Zazzaga, questions the legitimacy of his role as APC Chairman. 
They seek the court’s intervention to prevent Ganduje from continuing to present himself as the APC’s leader and to order the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to not recognize any APC activities, including congresses, primaries, and nominations, since Ganduje assumed the APC leadership on August 3, 2023.
They argue that Ganduje is unlawfully holding the position of APC Chairman as he is not from a state in the North Central geopolitical zone, where Senator Abdullahi Adamu, who was from Nasarawa State, belongs.
They claim that the APC’s National Executive Committee (NEC) violated the party’s constitution by choosing Ganduje from Kano State in the North West geopolitical zone to replace Senator Abdullahi Adamu from Nasarawa State in the North Central geopolitical zone.
Naija News reports that the plaintiffs contended that Ganduje’s selection to take over Abdullahi’s role violated Article 31.5(1) f of the APC constitution and exceeded the authority of the NEC within the party.
They further argued that according to the precise interpretation of Article 31.5(1) of the APC Constitution 2013 (as amended), the party was obligated to follow the established process for filling a vacant position and should have chosen a member from Nasarawa State in the North Central geopolitical zone to succeed as the chairman of the party.
They sought the court’s intervention to declare that, as per Article 20(1) of the APC constitution 2013, as amended, Ganduje was ineligible to hold the position of National Chairman of the party without an election being conducted democratically, and his current tenure in the role was unlawful.
Additionally, the plaintiffs sought a ruling that under the terms of Article 13 of the APC Constitution 2013 (as amended), the party’s national convention was the ultimate decision-making body of the party, possessing the authority to elect or dismiss national officers, including the national chairman of the party.
They also sought a declaration that the party’s NEC did not have the authority to appoint anyone to the position of Chairman.
During the hearing on Wednesday, counsel for the plaintiffs, Benjamin Davou, informed the court that he required time to address the new legal documents presented by Ganduje’s legal team.
His request for a delay was not contested by counsel for the APC Chairman, Raymond Asikeni, SAN.
As a result, Justice Ekwo decided to postpone the proceedings.
Moreover, the APC and INEC were also named as defendants in the case.
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