Oye stated this on Friday after multiple news channels reported that the apex court had replaced him (Oye) with Njoku.
Addressing a press conference at the party’s headquarters in Abuja, Oye described Njoku as a man unknown to APGA, stressing that there was no judgement by the Supreme Court on Friday, contrary to reports in the media.
He said, “The attention of our great party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance has been drawn to a malicious and vile propaganda making the rounds on various news platforms on the purported removal of the National Chairman of APGA, Victor Oye. The publication, which has since gone viral, claimed that the Supreme Court of Nigeria delivered a judgment earlier today being Friday 24th of March, 2023, wherein the apex court allegedly affirmed one Edozie Njoku as the National Chairman of APGA.
“While our great party has gotten used to the series of lies and falsehood churned out at intervals by Edozie Njoku on his infantile claim to the coveted seat of the National Chairman of APGA, what is however worrisome is the alarming speed with which otherwise reputable media platforms couriered the fake news and fed same to unsuspecting members of the public.
“It is the above stated unfortunate turn of events that has rendered it absolutely expedient that we, as a responsible and responsive political party, set the records straight on the effect and purport of the ruling delivered by the apex Court today.”
Explaining further, Oye said, “What transpired at the Supreme Court is clearly verifiable and will imminently be borne out by the certified true copy of the ruling of the Supreme Court delivered by His Lordship, Hon Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba. The application which the Supreme Court heard on the 20th of February, 2023 and brought by Edozie Njoku was merely to correct a typographical error contained in the lead judgment delivered by His Lordship, Hon Justice Mary Peter-Odili (rtd) on the 14th of October, 2021.”
On the lingering leadership tussle between him and Njoku, Oye noted, “It will be recalled that following a fraudulently contrived judgment which purportedly affirmed the factional national convention of APGA allegedly held in Owerri, Imo State, Victor Oye approached the Court of Appeal, Kano Division, as an interested party, to have the said perverse judgment set aside.
“Consequent upon the grant of his application for joinder, the Court of Appeal, Kano Division, in a unanimous judgment delivered on 10th of August, 2021 allowed the appeal of Victor Oye and set aside the judgment of Jigawa High Court. Tellingly, the decision of the Court of Appeal, Kano Division aforesaid, was predicated on an earlier judgment of a High Court of Anambra State which had earlier upheld the National Convention of APGA held in Awka, Anambra State on the 31st of May, 2019.
“The Court of Appeal held that the Jigawa High Court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the matter abinitio and thus set aside the judgment of Jigawa High Court.
“It is interesting to note that the Supreme Court while upholding the finding of the Court of Appeal, Kano Division, that the Jigawa High Court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the original suit filed by one Alhaji Garba Aliyu, went on to affirm all the findings made by the Court of Appeal, Kano Division.
“It is therefore most bemusing and smacks of deliberate mischief for anyone to remotely contemplate that the Supreme Court delivered another judgment on the 24th of March, 2023. Indeed, the allusion to Edozie Njoku in the body of the corrected judgment stems from the facts of the case as filed by Alhaji Garba Aliyu in the High Court of Jigawa wherein it was alleged that Chief Edozie Njoku was suspended by the National Executive Committee of APGA.
“The correction made by the Supreme Court in its said ruling was to the effect that the issue whether Edozie Njoku was purportedly suspended or not (a fact alleged in the Originating Summons filed at Jigawa High Court) is within the internal affairs of a political party and therefore non justiciable.
“It was on the above basis that the Supreme Court decided that the Jigawa High Court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the suit and deliver the judgment it delivered. Indeed, His Lordship, Hon Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba unequivocally stated that Edozie Njoku was not a party to the appeal brought by Chief Jude Okeke at the Supreme Court.”
He called on security agencies to immediately pick up Njoku for questioning, adding that the judgment he was brandishing was nothing but a forged document with which he was seeking to curry favours from unsuspecting members of the public.
