By Ben Ogbemudia
A leader of the All Progressives Congress in Edo State and legal expert, Dr. Washington Osifo has backed calls for the party to postpone its congresses and reconstitute its national leadership to the exclusion of Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State, who presently serves as the Chairman in an interim position, as well as other Executive officeholders following the legal reckoning that came after the Supreme Court, in its ruling on the contested Ondo election, resolved that their positions within the party were untenable.

The Minister of State for Labor, Festus Keyamo, raised the first alarm in a widely-circulated legal opinion wherein he warned that the APC risks putting itself in legal jeopardy if the Supreme Court ruling, which narrowly gave Governor Rotimi Akeredolu victory on the basis of a technicality, goes unheeded.

Notably, in challenging the victory of the APC’s Rotimi Akeredolu, the candidate of the PDP Eyitayo Jegede had contended that Governor Mai Mala Buni had no legal standing to nominate candidates on behalf of the political party in a leadership position given his obvious status as an elected official expected to oversee a state. He lost because he did not join Governor Buni as a party to the suit, making it clear that the court agreed with the argument in principle.

Hon. Washington Osifo weighed in saying “with the majority decision focusing on the non-joinder of Gov Buni as the reason for their decision, it is an implied acceptance of the minority decision. That being the case, whilst all the previous actions of Gov Buni before the decision can be defended on the basis, subsequent actions or steps he takes in defiance of the admonition by the Supreme Court will have moral implications now and legal implications in the future.”

APC Caretaker Committee Receives Membership Registration Materials

“This is where I tend to agree with the Hon. Minister (Festus Keyamo). If we go ahead with a congress superintended by Gov. Buni, the fallout would be that the Exco produced by him will be a “nullity” ab initio. Whilst he may not be sued now because of his immunity, the candidates that the subsequent Ward, State and National Exco would produce for the 2023 elections would be facing Pre-election and Post-election suits at a time Gov. Buni may have completed his tenure as Governor and therefore stripped of his immunity. He can subsequently be joined especially in Pre-election suits and with the possibility of the Courts revisiting this Supreme Court decision.”

Hon. Osifo warned that “to prevent such long term consequences, it will be illogical and illegal no to go with the suggestion that the scheduled congresses be postponed and the party (NEC) takes urgent steps to reconstitute CECPC in line with the provisions of the party’s constitution and the Supreme Court decision. Thereafter, the new CECPC can conduct primaries that will not produce Exco members, plagued ab initio with “legal disabilities”.