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Tag: Ishola Balogun Fulani

  • Supreme Court refuses appeal by sacked Kwara APC exco

    THE Supreme Court has struck out an appeal by members of the sacked executive of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State, led by Ishola Balogun Fulani.

    A five-man panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour, held in a unanimous ruling yesterday, that the appeal was without merit.

    Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, in the lead ruling, noted that the appeal, being on an interlocutory decision of a High Court in Ilorin, the record ought to be compiled and transmitted within 14 days, as required under Order 7 of the Supreme Court’s Rules.

    Justice Ariwoola held that the appellants, having failed to comply with the court’s rules when they transmitted the record of appeal outside the 14-day period, the appeal becomes incompetent.

    “The appeal is adjudged to be lacking in merit. It is struck out for being incompetent,” Justice Ariwoola said.

    Other members of the panel, Mary Odili, Centus Nweze and Amina Augie, agreed with the lead ruling.

    Read also: N6b fraud: Court orders trial-within-trial in Jang’s case

    The national leadership of the APC, led by Adams Oshiomhole had last year, sacked the Fulani-led exco, following the defection of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, from the party to People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and constituted a caretaker committee, led by Bashir Bolarinwa, a decision members of the sacked exco challenged before the High Court in Kwara State.

    In its judgment, a High Court in Kwara State held in favour of the sacked Fulani-led exco, a decision that was later reversed by the Court of Appeal in Ilorin, prompting the appeal to the Supreme Court.

  • Breaking: Appeal Court sacks Balogun-Fulani’s Kwara APC executives

    . Affirms Bolarinwa as authentic Kwara APC chair
    . Balogun-Fulani dissatisfied with judgement

    Court of Appeal sitting in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital on Tuesday sacked the Hon Ishola Balogun-Fulani faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.

    The court thereafter affirmed the authenticity of the Hon Bashir Bolarinwa-led APC executives in the state.

    A Kwara state High Court had December 19th last year ruled that the dissolved Ishola Balogun-Fulani executive is the authentic exco of the APC in the state.

    The lower court thus nullified any candidate produced by the Bashir Bolarinwa executives for the forthcoming elections.

    Dissatisfied by the judgement of the lower court, the APC (appellant) approached the appellate court for redress.

    The appellants’ grounds of appeal are that “the claimants cannot join the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at the state High court because INEC is a Federal Government agency; the amendment of
    their originating summons was brought in bad faith.

    “They brought issues that were not in existence as at the time of filing the suit originally. Even though the lower court has discretion, but its discretion must be exercised judicially and judiciously which was not done in this circumstance.”

    The appellate court in an interlocutory judgement it delivered last week upheld the nomination of AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq as the state APC governorship candidate.

    Reading his judgement on the main appeal Justice Ibrahim Salauwa set aside the judgement of the lower court and upheld the Bashir Bolainwa-led executives.

    He added there would be no reason to deliver a judgement on the same matter with the same parties after the interlocutory judgement of last week.

    Justice Salauwa added that it “would amount to share fruitless academic exercise which the courts are not meant for.”

    Reacting to the judgement, counsel to Hon Bolarinwa, Kamaldeen Gambari said that “what transpired is the affirmation of the interlocutory judgement which this court delivered sometime last week.

    “It said the originating process of Ishola Balogun-Fulani is incurably defective. The state High Court has no jurisdiction to go ahead in the matter.”

    APC counsel, Lawal Jimoh said that the judgement “has laid to rest all the controversies about the judgement of the Kwara state High Court delivered December 19th last year. It nullified the total judgement.

    The issue of Hon Ishola Balogun-Fulani parading himself as the APC chairman has been laid to rest.

    “This judgement further solidifies that primaries of APC held in October last year in the state. There is no controversy at all. As of today the APC in Kwara state can go and sleep when it comes to the issue of factionalisation of the party or not.

    “The court by that judgement affirmed the authenticity of Hon Bashir Bolarinwa-led executives of APC in the state and of course all the candidates that emerged from the primaries that were held by the National Working Committee (NWC) of APC in October 2018 remain valid.”

    Counsel to Ishola Balogun-Fulani, Abdulazeez Ibrahim expressed his dissatisfaction with the judgement. Ibrahim added that “the judgement is a simple one, because the issues were trashed at the interlocutory stage. That is supposed not to be the case. The decision in the interlocutory appeal has determined even the main appeal that was delivered today.

    “So we are not satisfied about that judgement. And we have appealed against the interlocutory judgement delivered last week. So we are going to appeal against the judgement just delivered today again.”

  • Court upholds Balogun-Fulani APC executive in Kwara

     

    An Ilorin High Court on Wednesday recognised the executive committee of the Ishola Balogun-Fulani led All Progressives Congress (APC) as the authentic executive of the party in the state.

    Delivering judgment, Justice T.S. Umar held that the purported dissolution of the executive committee of the APC led by Balogun-Fulani was illegal, null and void.

    Balogun-Fulani and Christopher Ayeni had instituted a suit against the APC National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the APC, APC NWC, INEC and Hon Bashir Bolarinwa over the dissolution of his executive.

    In his 13-point claims before the court, the claimants prayed the court to declare the appointment of Bashir Omolaja Bolarinwa as illegal.

    Justice Umaru, held that the APC National Working Committee (NWC) had no power to dissolve the executive led by Balogun-Fulani.

    The court directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise only the Balogun-Fulani led executive committee in the state.

    According to the judge, there is no lacuna in the party, adding that the Balogun-Fulani executive was duly elected on May 5,  and sworn in by National officers of the party on June 4.

    Justice Umaru therefore ordered INEC to recognise all candidates presented by the Balogun-Fulani faction to contest the 2019 elections.

    He declared as null, void and unconstitutional all actions taken by the Bashir Bolarinwa faction since June.

    According to Justice Umaru, the dissolution of the Balogun-Fulani faction is unconstitutional and against the rule of law.

    The court therefore granted perpetual injunction against the Bolarinwa faction from carrying out any function as chairman of the party in Kwara.

    Counsel to Bashir Bolarinwa, Kamaldeen Gambari told journalists after the judgment that he envisaged the outcome, adding that he will appeal the judgment immediately.

    In his comment, counsel to the claimants, Abdulraheem Shuaib commended the court for the judgment.

    According to him, the import of the judgment was that INEC will have to recognise all the candidates of the Balogun-Fulani.(NAN)

     

  • APC faction in Kwara seeks national headquarter recognition

    The factional chairman of the All Progressives Congress ( APC ) in Kwara, Hon Bashir Bolarinwa has called on the national leadership of the party to recognize his faction as the authentic one the state.

    Bolarinwa made the call on Monday in a press statement issued in Ilorin, copy of which was made available to News men

    He also called on the national leadership of the party to stop dealing with Ishola Balogun Fulani led executive.

    Bolarinwa said his faction has been vindicated as the real APC in Kwara following exist of the Fulani group from the party.

    According to Bolarinwa, the Balogun Fulani faction’s allegiance was to Dr Saraki and sponsor of what he called ‘the contraption called RAPC, saying, “This is injurious to the party”.

    He said that the crisis in the party was precipitated by Dr Bukola Saraki and his cohorts when he defiled the party position on zoning of the senate presidency.

    Sen Saraki, Bolarinwa said went against the position of the party and did everything untoward to clinch the office.

    “While the president and the party remain democratic, Saraki was busy sowing seeds of discord and seeking means of destroying the party. His latest antic was the formation a splinter group,” Bolarinwa added.

    He lamented that since Dr Saraki emerged as the Senate President, he has been attracting odium to the institution of the Senate and Kwara State.

    Read Also: Kwara APC hails Buhari on Saraki’s acquittal

    Bolarinwa added that Sen Saraki has consistently made lives difficult for Nigerians through budget padding and delay in passage of budget.

    “These are practices created by him to slow down government and confer undue benefits on him,” he said.

    Bolarinwa accused the Senate President of pauperizing the people through deliberate under development of Kwara State.

    He challenged Saraki to point to a project or program he initiated that geared towards truly empowering the people for economic sustainability.

    Bolarinwa declared that Sen Saraki and his lackeys were bent on destroying the party and make it unsellable to electorate.

    According to him, the only grouse of the Saraki group was that the Senate President was not given a political waiver in his alleged criminal trials in courts and even those under investigation.

    He added that there was nothing wrong for the Police to carry out their constitutional duty as it related to Offa bank robbery.

    “Any move to turn this dutiful service of Nigeria Police to persecution is not only hypocritical but diversionary aimed at perverting the course of justice,” he said.

    Bolarinwa therefore appealed to the people of the State to keep faith with the party, promising to return the state to the path of prosperity through a functional political party.