By Lawal Ogienagbon
WITH four senior advocates in its fold, the Federal Exceutive Council (FEC) can boast of people that can give it wise counsel whenever the need arises. As the highest ruling organ of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government, the FEC needs that counsel now in order to help its party out of its present dilemma.
The APC is troubled. The source of its headache is the July 28 Supreme Court’s 4 – 3 split judgment on the Ondo State governorship election dispute.
The lead verdict delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim favoured APC and Governor Rotimi Akeredolu. He held that the non-inclusion of Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni, the interim caretaker committee chairman of the party, in the case rendered the appeal filed by Eyitayo Jegede of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) incompetent. But the minority opinion given by Justice Mary Odili, who presided over the appeal, raised a pertinent issue, which has generated heat within the party and the Buhari administration. Justice Odili held that Buni cannot chair the party in whatever capacity, citing Section 183 of the 1999 Constitution and Article 17 (iv) of the APC constitution. That being so, she held that Buni’s endorsement of Akeredolu’s nomination form was null and void.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who is currently in London, sought a resolution of the matter by referring it to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, a professor of law and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). To do justice to the matter, he brought in his fellow Silk, Abubakar Malami, the attorney-general, Babatunde Fashola, works minister and Festus Keyamo, minister of labour (state). Information Minister Lai Mohammed, also a lawyer, joined them to analyse the verdict. The group, it seems, did not make a headway in its assignment. The tension in the party manifested at its nationwide congresses on Saturday. Some members did not want the congresses to hold based on the judgment, others were for it, citing the same verdict.
Some of the questions begging for answers are:
Who can sponsor a candidate in an election?
A political party, according to Section 177 (c) of the Constitution.
Who can sign the nomination papers of a candidate?
The chairman of a party.
Can a sitting governor chair a party in a substantive or acting (interim) capacity?
No, he cannot. Section 183 of the Constitution puts it succinctly: The governor shall not, during the period when he holds office, hold any other executive office or paid employment in any form or other capacity whatsoever.
Is the post of party chairman an executive office as envisaged by Section 183?
Yes, it is as the chairman heads the national executive committee of his party.
Is the post a paid employment as also envisaged by the section?
Yes, as the chairman is seen as an employee of the party.
What if the chairman decides not to collect salary?
That is a personal decision which does not remove from the fact that he is holding a paid job.
Did the lead verdict pronounce on the legality or otherwise of Buni’s position as interim APC chairman?
No, it only held that his non-inclusion in the appeal rendered it nugatory.
Did the dissenting decision pronounce on Buni’s position?
Yes, it held that he could not be governor and party chairman at the same time.
Should the APC congresses have been suspended in view of this verdict?
The wise thing to do would have been to suspend the exercise because of the inherent consequences.
What are these consequences?
The risk of the exercise being nullified in court if aggrieved members sue.
Is Buni’s resignation, as some are demanding, the remedy?
No, he can still be sued for his past actions.
Can the party’s sacked NEC be brought back?
This is far-fetched.
Can a body already adjudged illegal reconstitute the NEC under whatever guise?
Anything done by an illegal body is deemed illegal. In law, you cannot build something on nothing.
Can the APC governorship election primary held in Anambra State recently stand in view of this verdict?
It may not stand if Buni is joined in any suit challenging the primary.
Who is a principal?
One who authorises another to act on his or her behalf as an agent, according to Black’s Law Dictionary.
Who is an agent?
One who is authorised to act for or in place of another.
Was Buni an agent of APC when he signed Akeredolu’s papers?
Yes. He did so as its interim caretaker chairman.
Is the party vicariously liable for his action?
In law, it is as Buni acted for a disclosed principal.
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