By Jude Opara, Abuja
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Abdulahi Ganduje has described as a nullity the ruling of a Kano High Court which granted an ex-parte motion suspending him as a member of the party.
Ganduje who spoke in Abuja while receiving are all members of his ward in Dawakin Tofa Local Government in Kano State who paid him a solidarity visit at the National Secretariat of the party said the whole issue concerning his suspension and the court ruling on Wednesday was contrived by the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) whom he said is afraid of impending defeat in 2007.
He said the NNPP which is the ruling party in the state has continued to make mistakes hence its plot to destabilize the APC ahead of the next general elections.
“When we first heard the news, we knew it was not true. But we had to exercise patience in order to affirm those behind it. After a formal investigation, it was found that those who met with officials of Kano State government were not executive members either at the ward, state or even members of our party.
“These lies are peddled by the NNPP and the governor of Kano State in order to destroy our party because they are so concerned that during their first year in office, the people have seen the destruction of the economy of Kano down to the increase in political violence and also the destruction of political morality. With all these put together, they have started seeing the failure of their party. They are more concerned that we might take over the government from their party in 2027.
“You know Kano is the state with the highest number of registered voters in the country, the NNPP is jittery of what will happen by the next election in 2027. They are also concerned that we produced the second highest votes for Mr President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The are so afraid we might produce far higher votes that can make the president retain his seat.
“So we know that their motive is to create confusion so that we will not have the courage to take over the government again and also to ensure that our President, Bola Tinubu, does not have the intimidating votes of that kind from Kano State again. We will tell them that their intention is impossible. That intention will fail. We will show them that our platform in Kano state is rock solid and it is getting ready to give Mr President very high votes, even the highest”.
Earlier, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party it its reaction to the Kano State High Court which affirmed the suspension Ganduje, said the party will not reckon with the court order because it was obtained fraudulently.
The flurry of activities on the day equally saw Ganduje receive executive members of the APC from his Ganduje Ward in Kano State, who were at the national secretariat of the party to pass a vote of confidence on him.
Addressing the ward executives, Ganduje said those who were purportedly suspended him were impostors sponsored by the leadership of NNPP in Kano state .
Addressing newsmen on behalf of the NWC, National Legal Adviser of the Party, Prof. Abdulkarim Kana said the Kano High Court order is not enforceable as it was obtained by fraud.
Kana explained that said the purported suspension was obtained fraudulently by the Kano state government using impostors who were never members of the party. He added that the party has petitioned the IGP to investigate the matter and fish out those who allegedly impersonated the Ganduje Ward executives.
“We immediately filed a complaint to the police and we have copies of it served to the IGP, urging them to investigate the individuals behind it, especially as all the major stakeholders have all showed up to disassociate themselves from the action. They did not only distance themselves from the action but also disowned it.
“We are also hearing this afternoon, we are yet to see any court order, that they have also used the same fraudulent document to obtain an order of the court, which we have heard but not seen yet. Whatever kind of order that might emanate from such document will also be an order obtained by fraud.
“All of us know that whatever order obtained by fraud is an unlawful order and we are not going to recognize, respect or obey it. The individuals behind it are not from the APC. We don’t know them and that remains our position”.
The Ganduje Ward executives equally visited the National Judicial Council (NJC) where they submitted a petition against the judge that gave the order.
