DOWN AND OUT: Ganduje no longer APC chairman – Kano court rules

A Kano State High Court has issued an ex parte order restraining Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), from holding himself out as the National Chairman and a member of the party pending the resolution of the substituted motion regarding his suspension.

As a result, the court directed Ganduje to cease presiding over the affairs of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party.

The order, granted by Justice Usman Malam Na’abba on Tuesday, follows an ex parte motion filed by Dr. Ibrahim Sa’ad on behalf of two executive members from Ganduje’s ward in Dawakin-Tofa Local Government Area: the assistant secretary, Laminu Sani, and legal adviser Haladu Gwanjo (plaintiffs). These members were part of the nine ward executives who suspended Ganduje two days prior.

The court instructed all four parties involved in the matter, including the APC NWC, APC Kano State Working Committee (KSWC), and Ganduje, to maintain the status quo ante bellum as of April 15, 2024, until the hearing and determination of the substantive suit scheduled for April 30, 2024.

Justice Na’abba also ordered that the State Working Committee refrain from interfering with the duly considered decision of Ganduje ward executives, particularly an action endorsed by a two-thirds majority of the executives as stipulated by the party’s constitution.

The court order reads: “An order is hereby granted directing all parties in the suit APC (1st), APC National Working Committee (2nd), Kano State Working Committee APC (3rd), Dr. Abdullah Umar Ganduje (4th), to maintain the status quo ante bellum as of April 15, 2024.

“The order thereby restrains the 1st respondent (APC) from recognizing the 4th respondent (Ganduje) as a member of the APC and prohibits the 4th respondent (Ganduje) from presiding over any affairs of the NWC. It also restrains the State Working Committee from interfering with the legally and validly decided actions of the Ganduje ward executives.

“The 4th respondent (Ganduje) is prohibited from holding himself out as a member of the APC or performing any actions that may suggest he is a member of the APC pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.”

This development comes after nine members of Ganduje’s ward announced the suspension of the National Chairman of APC, citing allegations of corruption leveled against him by the Kano State Government.

The suspension followed a petition by Ja’afaru Adamu, an APC member from the National Chairman’s polling unit, alleging corruption and urging ward leaders to investigate to uphold the party’s image and President Bola Tinubu’s anti-corruption stance.

Despite the chairman and secretary of the ward failing to act on the petition filed since April 8, 2024, nine executive members, led by the legal adviser, acted on the petition, resulting in Ganduje’s suspension.

In the previous year, the former Kano State Governor faced a significant political setback, losing his Dawakin Tofa federal constituency in the 2023 general elections where his son, Umar Abdullahi Ganduje, was the APC candidat