The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, yesterday, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise Sly Ezeokenwa as the authentic National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

It set aside INEC?s publication dated July 2, 2024 that recognised the Edozie Njoku-led faction as the authentic National Executive Committee (NEC) of APGA.

Justice James Omotosho gave the order while delivering judgment in a suit brought by APGA and others against INEC and others seeking to compel the electoral umpire to restore the names of Sly Ezeokewa and his national officers on the INEC website.

The plaintiffs had sued INEC and the Njoku faction after the commission, on July 9, 2024, removed Ezeokewa?s name and those of his executive officers from its website as leaders of APGA and replaced same with Njoku?s faction.

Delivering the judgment, Omotosho traced the APGA leadership crisis that had been in many courts in the land. He said that after carefully and comprehensively going through cases between Victor Oye and Edozie Njoku before the courts, he discovered that no order of the court recognisedNjoku as National Chairman, upon which INEC acted.

According to the judge, the Supreme Court judgment, which Njoku had been flaunting, did not recognise him as National Chairman of APGA.

He read in the open court a letter by the Registrar of the Supreme Court to the effect that the correction made on the name of the plaintiff in an appeal that arose from Jigawa State High Court did not accord recognition to Njoku as the National Chairman of APGA. The Supreme Court had said that the matter was not justiciable and then dismissed the appeal.

He said, ?This court will not depart from the decision of the Supreme Court, but to enforce it. The 4th defendant acted ridiculously. No positive order of the court declared Njoku as the National Chairman of APGA.?

Consequently, Omotosho ordered that all meetings convened by Njoku or a person who replaced him were null, void and of no effect.

The court further stated that the national convention held in Awka, Anambra State, that produced Ezeokewa was properly constituted.

Therefore, it ordered that the names of the executive officers elected at Akwa on May 31, 2023, must be restored and recognised by INEC as the national executive officers of APGA.

He issued a declarative order directing INEC to delete its publication of July 4, 2024, that recognised Njoku as Chairman and a mandatory injunction compelling INEC to publish the name of Ezeokewa as the National chairman. (The Guardian)