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Chief Edozie Njoku, the National Chairman of the National Rescue Movement, or NRM, and the National Chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission, or INEC, have been advised to follow the Federal High Court of Nigeria’s Abuja verdict.
The call was made Thursday in Abuja by Chief Edozie Njoku, the party’s elected National Chairman.
Njoku questioned why the party had not acknowledged or connected with him in that role for more than five months following its Emergency Convention in Abuja, which resulted in the current National Working Committee, NWC, INEC, headed by Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.
According to the ZINGTIE, the court has since rejected the electoral body’s justification for not monitoring the election.
At the Federal Capital Territory’s High Court in Asokoro, where a case brought by some party members against his appearance was dismissed, Njoku talked to reporters.
In a case titled FHC/ABJ/CS/ 45/25, ZINGTIE monitored the Federal High Court’s January 16 verdict. The court issued an order of mandamus directing INEC to observe the convention that the NRM convened the next day and recognize its results.
He said that the purpose of the aforementioned convention was to address the party’s National Executive Committee’s (NEC) imbalance and lack of federal character in accordance with sections 82(1) and 83(1) of the Electoral Act.
He went on to say that after INEC declined to oversee the exercise, the party went back to court and won a favorable ruling that upheld the convention’s conclusion.
Njoku emphasized that the court, in the ruling delivered by Justice Obiora Egwuatu, determined that INEC’s failure to oversee the NRM convention was unconstitutional and illegal since it amounted to a refusal to fulfill its constitutional obligation in violation of the current provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.
He noted that in a previous ruling, Justice James Omotosho of the same court had ruled that a political party was simply required to notify INEC of its convention.
According to him, the court decided that the electoral body had the freedom to decide whether or not to accept the invitation to the convention.
Furthermore, he pointed out that neither INEC nor any unhappy party member had filed an appeal against the high court’s ruling.
The NRM Chairman contended that the party had no option but to file a contempt action against Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu, the chairman of INEC, because the 90-day window for filing an appeal against the ruling had passed.
He added that in a letter dated June 4, the party, through its attorney, Mr. Oladimeji Ekengba of Joe Agi, SAN, & Associates, informed the INEC chairman of the repercussions of his continuous disregard for the court’s ruling.
ZINGTIE saw a copy of the letter addressed to the INEC Chairman, which stated, “We urge you to obey the judgement of court and purge yourself of this contemptuous act.
“Should you fail, we shall not hesitate to urge the court to commit you to prison, in line with the rule of law. A stitch in time saves nine.”
Ahead of the general election in 2027, Njoku expressed optimism that a unified NRM would provide a potent platform for the opposition.
“Our happiness is that the crisis in NRM is over. We are going to build a formidable political party.
“Even though we are not considering the idea of a coalition yet, however, we are going to have a small meeting next week. After then, we will decide.
“Already, we have gotten 18 new offices. We have to build ourselves first before thinking of a coalition,” he added.
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Jonathan Nwokpor
