In a split decision of two Justices to One, the Court of Appeal in Abuja has dismissed an appeal filed by the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Senator David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola against the judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja which stopped them from dissolving the States Working Committees (SWC) of the ADC.
The Appellate Court in the split judgments on Monday evening imposed a fine of N10m on them to be paid to the State Chairmen for violating the ADC Constitution to scuttle the four-year tenure of the chairmen.
Justices Okon Abang and Donatus Okorowo delivered the majority judgment while the Presiding Justice Abba Bello Mohammed delivered the minority judgment.
Both Justices Abang and Okorowo held that the Federal High Court was right in assuming jurisdiction in the case of the state chairmen because it was based on the breach of the ADC Constitution to remove the chairmen from office when their tenure had not lapsed.
They held that the issue of internal affairs claimed by appellants in their opposition to the case of the state chairmen cannot hold water because the breach of the party’s Constitution and section 223 of the 1999 Constitution were involved.
According to them, allowing the appellants to have their ways in breaching their own party Constitution would lead to anarchy and be capable of derailing democracy.
However, the Presiding Justice, Abba Bello Mohammed dissented, holding that the issue of election of officers and removal are exclusive internal affairs of the party.
