A factional National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Victor Giadom has told the party that it can’t suspend him as a member of the party or sack him as the party chairman.
This position was made known by Oluwole Afolabi, legal counsel to Giadom, who noted that the purported suspension of his client is ineffective because it is in contempt of a subsisting court order.
Giadom had earlier declared himself as the APC National Chairman following the appeal court ruling which upheld the suspension of Adams Oshiomhole.
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Livingstone Wechie, the Media Adviser to the Acting Chairman of APC in Rivers, Igo Aguma, said Giadom, a former Deputy National Secretary was suspended over alleged acts of gross infractions of the party’s Constitution.
He said a fact-finding committee set up by the party recommended the immediate suspension of Giadom.
Similarly, a high court in Rivers State ordered Giadom to stop parading himself as a member of the party’s National Working Committee having willingly resigned from his position to contest for the position of Deputy Governor in the Rivers APC Guber primaries in 2019.
However, a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) high court had also reaffirmed Giadom as the acting national chairman of the APC on Thursday.
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In a statement issued on Sunday, Afolabi, Giadom’s lawyer while reacting to the statement suspending Giadom from the party said the suspension of his client could not stand since Giadom had a case in court regarding his membership of the APC.
“The law is trite that a member of a political party cannot be suspended from the party while he’s in court asserting a vested right as a member of the party,” Afolabi said.
“By attempting to suspend chief Giadom from the party, the characters involved are trying to force a fait accompli on the court and thereby tie the hands of the court.
“A similar conduct orchestrated by the PDP to expel RT. Hon. Amaechi from the party while he was in court challenging the results of the Rivers state governorship election was condemned and rejected by the supreme court.
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“The purported expulsion of chief Giadom is ineffective and contemptuous. We hereby urge INEC, law enforcement agencies and the general public to disregard the news of the purported expulsion of chief Victor Giadom.
“In line with the provisions of the constitution of the APC, as affirmed by the order of S.I.U. Bature J. and a plethora of legal authorities, chief Victor Giadom remains the acting national chairman of the APC.”
Meanwhile, it will be recalled the APC had since announced Abiola Ajimobi, former Oyo governor, as acting chairman and appointed Hillard Eta, vice chairman of the party (south-south), to stand in for Ajimobi who is believed to be indisposed due to illness.
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