APC Crisis: No Plot to Unseat Buni, Ex-PDP Guber Candidate Denies Court Case

• A court process was allegedly instituted recently to sack Mai Mala Buni from office as Yobe state governor
• The Yobe state governorship candidate of the PDP in the 2019 election, Ambassador Umar Ilya Damagum says he knows nothing about the suit
• Damagum says he suspects some APC and PDP members instituted the case without his knowledge

Damaturu - The Yobe state governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 election, Ambassador Umar Ilya Damagum has denied knowledge of any court process allegedly instituted to sack Governor Mai Mala Buni from office.

In the alleged suit filed at the Federal High Court Abuja on Thursday, August 12, the plaintiffs allegedly argued that combining the governor's office with another executive position is a constitutional violation.

But in a statement he personally signed on Friday, August 13, the former PDP governorship candidate said he did not institute the case.

He added that he suspects some disgruntled All Progressive Congress (APC) members who are aggrieved with their ward congress and some PDP elements to be behind the suit to unsettle Governor Buni.

Part of the statement seen by Legit.ng read:

“I am not aware of such suit, I did not brief any lawyer to institute any case on my behalf, I did not authorise anyone to approach the court on my behalf, my name was fraudulently used as a co-plaintiff without my consent and authority.

“I think some members of my party, the PDP who were not happy with the success of the PDP state congress conducted in April 2021 to also be behind the suit for record purpose, there are pending suits before the high court Damaturu filed by them and may also use this means to frustrate those cases.

“I have instructed the team of my lawyers to investigate the matter and take appropriate steps required by law. It is laughable that those who instituted that case are not aware that my running mate in the 2019 election has defected to the APC.”

The court document shows that the PDP, along with Ambassador Damagum and his former running mate Baba Abba Aji, were listed as plaintiffs who jointly instituted the suit to unseat Governor Buni.

The suit asked the court to sack Governor Buni and his deputy and swear in its own candidate in the last governorship election in the state as their replacement.

Meanwhile, governors of the APC have given the Buni-led caretaker committee the go-ahead to conduct the party’s national convention.

The governors under the auspices of the Progressive Governors’ Forum at a crucial meeting on Sunday, August 8 reviewed the party’s July 31 ward congress and directed the committee to proceed with other congresses.

Those congresses would ultimately culminate in the conduct of the national convention.

APC taking drastic decisions on legal logjam

Legit.ng had earlier reported that stakeholders of the APC already considering an overhaul of the party’s current leadership structure to avoid a legal booby trap after a Supreme Court verdict questioned the existence of the APC's interim committee.

Accordingly, leaders of the APC have started considering the removal of Mai Mala Buni as the interim chairman of the party.

Apart from Buni, who is the Yobe state governor, his counterparts in Niger and Osun, Sani Bello and Gboyega Oyetola are members of the interim panel.

Source: Legit.ng