‘Mustapha still contesting Sanwo-Olu’s guber primary victory’

Contrary to media reports, Abdul-Ahmed Mustapha has not withdrawn his petition challenging the conduct of the May 26 All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary in Lagos State.

The aggrieved politician claimed that the party’s Appeal Panel sought his cooperation to drop his case to avoid a repeat of the Zamfara and Rivers scenarios of 2019, where APC ended up without lawful gubernatorial candidates for the general elections.

Speaking through his counsel, Abdulmojeed Oloyede, Mustapha requested the party leadership to make public the outcome of the screening exercise conducted for all aspirants in the state and what necessitated his alleged disqualification.

Denouncing the reports that Mustapha had capitulated, the lawyer stated: “Far from it, my client would not condone injustice in whatever form and until and unless a fair and just result is achieved, my client won’t stop speaking up against flagrant disregard of our extant laws and laid down party guidelines.”

“What Mustapha Ahmed did was to submit himself to the conflict resolution mechanism put in place by the party and he is optimistic that justice would be served at the end.”

On the controversial endorsement and what transpired at the appeal proceedings, the counsel clarified: “On Tuesday, we (myself and my client) appeared before the Appeal Committee. The hearing was done behind closed doors, as the case was presented and argued extensively before the committee.

“The Appeal Committee, thereafter, informed us that they don’t have jurisdiction to entertain the issue of disqualification, which is the crux of our appeal. They opined that the screening appeal committee is the right panel to hear our appeal.

The committee honourably informed us that their mandate does not extend beyond the events on the field during the primaries.

“I strongly disagree with the position of the Appeal Committee. In paragraphs 8 and 9 of our appeal, we made it known that our client got to know of the purported disqualification at the venue of the primaries (Onikan Stadium) when he was turned back at the gate.”

He went on: “It is pertinent to state that our client had no cause to file a complaint before the Appeal Screening Committee because the Appeal Committee did not release a screening report nor did they inform my client that he was not cleared. The primaries took place 12 clear days after the screening exercise and it was only at the venue of the primaries that my client was informed that he was not cleared and no ground for the purported disqualification was adduced to date.

“The Appeal Committee strongly advised my client against litigation to avoid a Zamfara-like situation where the party will not be able to field a candidate at the general polls in Lagos State. The hearing, thereafter, was brought to an end.”