Benue: Court nullifies APC caretaker committee, reinstates Austin Agada-led SWC

A High Court in Makurdi, presided over by Justice T.A. Kume, has nullified the seven-member caretaker committee of the Benue State All Progressives Congress (APC).

The ruling followed a suit filed by Comrade Austin Agada, the former state chairman of the APC, challenging the dissolution of the State Working Committee (SWC) by the National Working Committee (NWC).

In his judgment, Justice Kume stated that the dissolution of the SWC violated the APC’s constitution and amounted to a gross breach of the applicants’ right to a fair hearing. He emphasized that fairness, as exemplified by God’s treatment of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, requires an opportunity to be heard, which Agada was denied.

The court ruled that all actions carried out by the caretaker committee, which was appointed by the NWC to replace Agada’s leadership, were null and void. The plaintiffs in the case included Agada and eight others, with the APC and Benjamin Omale, the chair of the caretaker committee, as the first and second respondents.

Benjamin Omale, who had been removed as chair of the caretaker committee, expressed his dissatisfaction with the ruling and announced plans to appeal the decision.

In August, the NWC of the APC dissolved the SWC and appointed Omale’s caretaker committee.