Senator Abdullahi Ganduje, former governor of Kano State, has stated that he is still in command as the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), following the reversal of his alleged suspension by his ward executives.
Justice A. M Liman of the Federal High Court in Kano halted Ganduje’s suspension, adding a new wrinkle to Kano APC party affairs.
The Court also restrained all the respondents, their agents from implementing the decisions reached at the executive meeting of the APC held at the Ganduje Ward of Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area on April 15 2024, pending the determination and hearing of his substantive application for the enforcement of his fundamental rights.
The Judge also asked the parties to maintain the status quo before the purported emergency meeting of the alleged executive members of the APC ward.
Justice Liman gave the order while ruling on a motion exparte filed by Ganduje for the enforcement of his fundamental right to fair hearing.
The case has been fixed for April 30 for hearing.
Ganduje was suspended by his ward executive.
But the APC said the masterminds are members of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) and filed a petition to the National Judicial Council (NJC), alleging that the judge who gave the order has been compromised.
On Wednesday, the Kano State High Court granted an ex parte order restraining Ganduje from parading himself as a member of the party, thereby affirming his suspension.
But the APC National Working Committee (NWC) described the order as fraudulent and unlawful.
The APC National Legal Adviser, Prof. Abdulkarim Kana stated this while briefing journalists shortly after the APC Ward Executives from Ganduje Ward in Dawakin-Tofa Local Government Area of Kano State visited the party’s National Chairman in his office in Abuja.
Kana also said the Ganduje Ward Executives had proceeded to the National Judicial Council (NJC) to submit a petition for Kano High Court Judge, Justice Usman Na’abba to be called to order.
Reacting to the development, Ganduje appreciated the party executive members and ward officials from Ganduje Ward for distancing themselves from the purported plot to remove him from the party’s leadership and membership.
He attributed the development to the plan of Governor Abba Yusuf of the NNPP to weaken APC in the state ahead of the 2027 general election and other electoral contests.
The APC chairman said, “In fact, what is happening is that it is an incursion into our political party by the NNPP government of Kano in order to destroy our party.
“They are so concerned that in their first year in office, they have seen their failures right from the destruction of the economy of Kano state to increased political violence in and also destruction of political morality in Kano state.
“We are battle ready to take over their government. They are concerned that Kano produces the highest votes. They are so concerned that we will repeat the same feat for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu again. We will ensure that in 2027, there is no vacancy for any presidential candidate fram Kano and from Nigeria.
“They are out to create confusion in our party so that we will not have the courage to take over our government in Kano state. They want to ensure Tinubu does not have the intimidating votes he used to have from Kano state. We will tell them their intentions will fail, that it is impossible, that it is a falsehood.
“I am assuring the President that our party in Kano is solid, it is battle ready in order to keep the votes for president very high, even the highest in Nigeria.
“We have written to the IGP, the DG DSS who are handling the case because we have their pictures, names, and we know their political leanings. Some of them were captured even wearing kwankwasjyya cap. They were so daft and insensitive that they couldn’t camouflage properly.”