The purported INEC recognition of Edozie Njoku on their website is a little joke taken too far, this is because, there is no legal ground that establishes that a person who did not stand for election in an INEC monitored congress can become a party national chairman. Therefore, while we can all agree that INEC goofed with their decision to recognize Edozie Njoku even with no valid court judgement presented to substantiate that, it is an error that will soon be corrected and corrected permanently.
Sly Ezeokenwa’s leadership of APGA is backed by a supreme Court ruling and subsequent clarification that the chairman of party is made by convention, not by court order. A big blow to Edozie Njoku who up until now is unable to wrap his head around the fact that he has no legitimate claims to the Office of the National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
This is because, for someone to be recognized as the Chairman of a political party, several procedures must be followed: First, a notice of the party convention must be provided to INEC within a specific timeframe.
Secondly, the National Working Committee members, including the National Chairman, must be elected by delegates at this convention, in accordance with the party’s constitution.
INEC, as a regulatory body, is required by law to monitor these conventions and issue a report on their outcomes, ensuring that all processes align with the party’s constitution.
Courts can only rule on whether these constitutional processes have been followed, not on who should be the chairman of a party.
According to numerous Supreme Court rulings, no court can unilaterally decide a party’s chairman unless there is clear evidence that the chairman’s election violated the party’s constitution and was not properly monitored by INEC.
Also, INEC lacks the authority to determine a party chairman unless there is significant proof that the election was conducted unlawfully against the party’s constitution.
Given these constitutional processes and the fact that only the APGA conventions held in Awka in 2019 and 2023 were monitored by INEC, with Certified True Copies (CTCs) of INEC’s reports issued to the party, INEC’s recognition of Edozie Njoku as National Chairman contradicts due process and undermines the country’s constitutional framework regarding political party leadership.
The 2019 Awka convention produced Ozonkpu Victor Ike Oye as the National Chairman of APGA, with multiple court rulings, from the High Court to the Supreme Court, confirming that the convention complied with the party’s constitution.
Similarly, the 2023 Awka convention was monitored by INEC, which issued a CTC confirming the process. The Supreme Court has also clarified in a letter dated June 6, 2023, that INEC’s recognition of both the 2019 and 2023 APGA conventions was correct and not in violation of any court order.
To date, there is no evidence that INEC monitored any convention in Owerri in 2019, nor has any court invalidated the Awka conventions of 2019 and 2023.
These facts clearly demonstrate that there is no leadership tussle in APGA and that Barr. Sly Ezeokenwa is the only duly elected National Chairman of the party.
Until INEC rectifies its current mistake, it is crucial to recognize that facts are sacred, and the law is based on evidence-backed facts.
