The Supreme Court of Nigeria has upheld the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) national convention that recognized Sly Ezeokenwa as the party’s national chairman. The court’s ruling, delivered on Wednesday, also imposed a N20 million fine on Edozie Njoku for filing what it deemed a frivolous lawsuit at the FCT High Court, Bwari.
The ruling comes shortly after the Federal High Court in Abuja barred Njoku from presenting himself as the party’s chairman. Justice James Omotosho, in his judgment, stated that there was no valid court order, including any Supreme Court ruling, that recognized Njoku as the legitimate APGA national chairman.
The case stemmed from a legal challenge filed by APGA and Ezeokenwa against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for erroneously replacing their names with those of the Njoku-led leadership on INEC’s website. INEC had failed to restore the names of Ezeokenwa and his executive team despite their valid election at the party’s national convention in May 2023.
Justice Omotosho emphasized that the Supreme Court had already settled the matter in a previous ruling between Njoku and Chief Victor Oye, the former national chairman. The court had affirmed that internal party matters, such as the choice of national chairman, are not justiciable in court. Thus, the INEC’s recognition of Njoku’s faction was ruled to be unlawful, and the court ordered the restoration of Ezeokenwa’s executive team as the rightful national officers of APGA.
