By Deborah Hassan
365Daily – The All Progressives Congress (APC) has described the court action instituted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against the Chairman of its Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) and Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni, as misplaced and frivolous.
Secretary of the CECPC, John Akpanudoudehe, said in a statement issued Thursday, August 12, 2021, that the ”PDP leadership is obviously executing a desperate and poorly-scripted propaganda plot aimed at deflecting attention from the crisis of confidence the failed opposition party faces.”
The statement added: ”The PDP are ignominious rabble-rousers and have no locus to take any action on the internal affairs of the APC. The Supreme Court has already affirmed the status and legality of the CECPC and that is all there is to it.
”There are clearly spelt out punitive measures against abuse of court processes. We are confident that the Judiciary will apply these measures fully.”
In the suit with number FHC/ABJ/CS/885/2021 filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday, August 12, 2021, urged a court to sack Governor Buni for taking up another executive position as the caretaker chairman of the APC.
Citing Section 183 of the Nigerian Constitution and a recent judgement of the Supreme Court on Ondo elections, the opposition party urged the trial court to determine if Mr Buni “who is the Governor of Yobe State and Caretaker Committee Chairman” of the APC “has not ceased to hold the office of the governor of Yobe State.”
It argued that the Governor had breached the constitution by taking up the CECPC leadership role and by implication, had left the Yobe State governor’s office and that of his deputy, Idi Gubana, vacant.
The PDP, therefore, urged the court to order that its candidates in the 2019 Governorship election, Umar Damagum, and his running mate, Baba Aji, be sworn in as replacements for Mr Buni and his deputy.