By Jude Opara
A Makurdi High Court has ordered the reinstatement of Mr Austin Agada and other elected executives of the Benue State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress, (APC), Benue chapter, whose tenures were terminated by the party’s National Working Committee, (NWC).
In his ruling yesterday, the presiding judge, Justice Tertsegha Kume, gave the order in a suit filed by Agada and eight others against the APC.
In the suit, Agada and the eight others challenged the abrupt termination of their tenure in office as Benue executives of the party.
They sued the party to determine whether it was right to terminate their tenures midway without giving them a fair hearing.
The plaintiff’s counsel, Mr M. T. Alyebo, told the court that the party’s NWC was wrong to disregard the provisions of Articles 12(11), 17(i), and 21.1 of the Constitution of the APC 2022 (as amended).
Alyebo argued that the NWC decision was also in contravention of Section 223(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As Amended) by not giving them a fair hearing before unlawfully terminating their tenures.
He urged the court to make an order reinstating his clients until the expiration of their tenures on February 2, 2026.
However, counsel for APC, Mr Matthew Burkaa, urged the court to dismiss the suit, arguing that the court had no jurisdiction over the matter as it was an internal affair of the party.
The presiding judge, however, dismissed the argument of the respondent’s counsel and granted the reliefs sought by the applicants.
He declared that the tenure of office of Agada and other elected executives of the APC in Benue is still valid and subsisting till the completion of four years.
