Crisis In Benue APC Escalates As Aggrieved Parties Sue Ganduje For Contempt Of Court

By Akinwale Kasali

The crisis rocking the Benue State Chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, has escalated.

It took a fresh twist on Thursday when the dissolved State Executive Members led by Augustine Agada dragged the Party’s National Chairman, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, to Court for disobedience of the Court order.

A Benue State High Court had, on Wednesday, stopped the Ganduje-led National Working Committee, NWC, from dissolving the Agada-led State Executive Council. But the Ganduje-led NWC disregarded the Court order and went ahead to dissolve the said State Exco in disobedience of the Court order.

In reaction,  Agada, alongside eight others on Thursday, approached a Benue State High Court to file contempt charges against the Ganduje-led NWC of the APC.

In a motion on notice no: MHC/1585/M/2024, Agada-led Benue exco prayed the Court to compel Ganduje-led NWC to adhere to the decision not to remove them from office until the expiration of their four- year tenure.

The dissolved Benue APC Exco also prayed the Court to issue a punitive measure against the Ganduje-led NWC over the disobedience of the earlier decision of the Court.

Agada, in an affidavit deposed to by his Counsel, M.T. Aiyebo, insisted that the Ganduje-led NWC was duly served the order of the Court on Wednesday at about 4.00pm.

He added that the service of the order restraining the APC under Ganduje was also served at the office of the National Legal Adviser at 4.02 p.m. on Wednesday at the party’s national secretariat.

Agada, in the affidavit, expressed surprise that in the evening of Wednesday, 21st August 2024, at 6.00pm, Ganduje-led NWC held a meeting where he went ahead to dissolve his Executive Committee and appointed a Caretaker Committee against the earlier Court order.

“That I saw on several television stations that same evening about 8 p.m. and several other news media that the Benue state Working Committee of the Respondent on record has been dissolved by the Respondent against whom the leave of this Honourable court is been sought.”