No leadership vacuum in APC – Party spokesman

…Reaffirms Ajimobi acting National Chairman

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has declared that there is no vacancy in any of its leadership positions, as it reaffirmed that Senator Abiola Ajimobi remains the acting National Chairman of the party.

Reacting to an Ex-Parte Order allegedly granted in favour of Chief Victor Giadom per MOTION NO: FCT/HC/M/6447/2020, the national publicity secretary of the party, Lanre Issa –Onilu, on Friday, said none of the four defendants named on the said process were served with the Originating Processes in the Suit and as a result the party became aware of the existence of such an Order on June 17, 2020 through its circulation on social media.

The party said the Order was granted on March 16, 2020 to fill a purportedly vacant office of National Chairman ahead of a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting which turned out to have been convened in contravention of the APC Constitution.

Onilu in a statement said the appointment of Sen. Abiola Ajimobi as Acting Deputy National Chairman (South) by the APC National Working Committee (NWC) was ordered by Justice Liman of the Federal High Court on March 13, 2020.

He said: “In furtherance of the above and complying with Article 14.2 (iii) of the APC Constitution, Sen. Ajimobi assumed the position of acting National Chairman on March 13, 2020. Article 14.2 (iii) provides: “The Deputy National Chairman shall act as National Chairman in the absence of the National Chairman from his zone.

“In essence, there was no vacancy to fill on the said March 16, 2020 as Sen. Ajimobi had already assumed the role of Acting National Chairman”.

Faulting the court order in possession of Giadom, Onilu said: “An Order of Stay of Execution of the Ruling of the FCT High Court in Suit No: FCT/HC/CV/837/2020 delivered on 4th March, 2020 is granted pending the determination of the Motion on Notice which is now slated for hearing on 20th of March, 2020.

“An Order of Injunction is granted restraining the Respondents themselves, their agents, privies and/or officers jointly or severally from proceeding to take any further steps to give effect to the said ruling.

“The Court of Appeal is of course a higher Court in the hierarchy of Courts and without prejudice to Sen. Ajimobi’s role as Acting National Chairman, by its decision and the operation of law, there was indeed no vacancy to fill necessitating the said Order.

“It will interest the public to note that it is the same Exparte Order of March 16, 2020 granted in the face of the pending Orders of both the Federal High Court and Court of Appeal that is being alleged by Victor Giadom to be extended by the FCT High Court”.

The party posited that the provision clearly indicates that the said Exparte Order granted on March 16, 2020 expired on March 23, 2020 and that the party has no information that it was ever extended and even if that was the case, the said extension would have expired on March 30, 2020.

In other words, the party said Giadom’s current claim to the Chairmanship of the APC is not founded on any law but instead on impunity.

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“It is necessary to also restate that the said Order was specifically targeted at the purported National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting scheduled for March 17, 2020. It is on record that the said meeting was convened in violation of Article 25(B) of the APC Constitution and as a result it was never held on the fixed date. Once the specific event targeted by the Order had passed, there is no premise upon which to insist on the pendency of such an Order.

“On the basis of the above analysis, we wish to restate that none of the defendants in the alleged suit where the said Exparte Order was obtained has been served with any process of Court.

“This includes copies of the Order itself as well as that alleged extension of same Order yesterday, June 18, 2020 which has been circulating on social media. Perhaps, the Orders are intended for use only on social media.

“We assure our teeming members that the APC has no leadership vacuum. By the Constitution of the Party, Sen. Ajimobi has assumed the role of National Chairman following the decision of the Court of Appeal upholding the interlocutory injunction suspending the National Chairman from office.

“A majority of members of the NWC are determined to preserve our party’s zero tolerance for impunity and will continue to uphold the law in fulfillment of the mandate given to us by members of our great party”, the statement read.