Chairman of the Caretaker/Extra-Ordinary National Convention Planning Committee and Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni, alongside other appellants, yesterday, insisted the FCT High Court lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter. They, therefore, prayed the appellate court to nullify the judgment of the lower court.
Justice Mu’azu Hamza of the FCT High Court, had in November last year, upheld the prayers of Shekarau’s faction, thereby quashing the leadership of the party in the state duly anointed by Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje’s faction.
When the matter came for hearing yesterday at the Abuja division of the Appeal Court, lawyers to the appellants and respondents submitted their appeal arguments and counter appeal on the subject matter.
Counsel to the appellants, Abdullahi Adamu Fagge, told journalists that his clients were demanding the Appeal Court to set aside the ruling of the lower court on the basis of jurisdiction and political interference.
Fagge said: “We have argued that the trial court has no jurisdiction to hear the matter because all the subject matter were conducted in Kano. Ordinarily, we felt the case should have been referred to Kano State High Court or Federal High Court sitting in Kano since the congresses were held in Kano.
“But the lower court declared jurisdiction to hear the matter relying on Order 3 of the FCT High Court Rules, which empower the court to exercise jurisdiction on the matter. We insisted that it is only the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or laws passed by the National Assembly or state assembly as required that has the authority to confer jurisdiction on court and not the rules of court.”
The three-man panel of Justices of the Appeal Court headed by Justice Haruna Tsammani reserved the matter for judgment at a date that would be communicated to both parties.
The internal crisis rocking APC in Kano has created cracks within the party, with loyalists already aligning across the two factions.
The verdict of the Appeal Court would determine whether Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje would retain control of the party leadership or lose it to former governor Ibrahim Shekarau and his G-7 group.
