The National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Felix Morka, emphasized on Thursday that the party will not recognize a court order that had initially affirmed Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje’s suspension as national chairman.
Speaking on Arise TV, Morka clarified that the national chairman has yet to receive any formal notification regarding the original court order that sought to restrain him.
Morka expressed the party’s support for a subsequent ruling by the Kano Federal High Court, presided over by Justice A.M. Liman, which put a hold on Ganduje’s suspension initiated by his ward executives in Dawakin Tofa Local Government area. This decision came in response to Ganduje’s exparte motion which argued for his fundamental right to a fair hearing.
The application named several key national security bodies and nine other individuals as respondents.
Morka defended the party’s stance, asserting that those behind the suspension were not legitimate party members.
He expressed concerns about the procedural aspects of the initial ruling: “The order issued by the first court was very disturbing, for some reasons. First, the plaintiffs who purportedly filed that action are not recognized members of our party and therefore shouldn’t have the locus standi to invoke the authority of the court to make any such order.”
Morka further criticized the handling of the exparte motion by the court: “Secondly, every lawyer in this country is aware that from the Supreme Court up to the NJC, there is this cautiousness that judges don’t make orders that are far-reaching in effect on an exparte motion or application.”
He continued, questioning the judge’s decision to uphold such a significant suspension without proper notice to the affected party: “But this judge, in this case, upheld the illegal suspension of a national chairman, did so on an ex parte application, which shouldn’t really be.”
Despite his criticisms, Morka stated his respect for the judiciary, adding, “Being a lawyer, I have a lot of respect for the court and won’t say much. But be that as it may, as I speak, that order of the Kano State High Court purportedly affirming the suspension of our national chairman has not been served on the party and the national chairman himself.”
He concluded by highlighting the current legal ambiguity surrounding the situation: “So this conversation and every other one relating to this has really been based on media reports. In other words, we do not have legal notice of that order. So the question of how we react to it or whether we will respect it or not is out of it because we have not been served. In the meantime, this Federal Court has issued a prohibition, an order restraining the impersonators who are the plaintiffs in that matter from enforcing that suspension.”
Morka reaffirmed Ganduje’s status within the party: “We are right now in the stage of status quo where we were before the purported suspension of Ganduje as the national chairman. He still remains our national chairman.”
