The 17-year reign of Chief Ralphs Okey Nwosu as the national chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) could end imprisonment, court documents seen by Newsstarlet show.
The development also means that Don Norman Obinna, whom Nwosu tried to unseat, remains the lawful chairman of the party in Abia state.
Insiders told our correspondent that Nwosu, after his lengthy tenure expired in August 2022, suspended some state party chairmen and dissolved their executive committees without due process.
Obinna, one of the ADC chieftains affected by the actions of the former chairman teamed up with seven others to challenge the decision in court.
A federal high court sitting in Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital, has now nullified Nwosu’s action and upheld Obinna’s claim to Abia ADC chairmanship.
The court presided over by Justice Phoebe M. Ayua ruled on April 6 that Nwosu acted against Obinna without the required recourse to any petition written against the Abia chair and his executives.
The court ruled that the action violated ADC’s constitution and, by extension, Nigeria’s electoral law.
The court also backed a 2022 ruling by Justice Binta Nyako of an Abuja federal high court barring Nwosu and his executives from leading the ADC beyond 21 August 2022, the day Nwosu’s 17-year hold on the party officially expired.
The Abuja court, delivering its ruling in suit No FHC/ABJ/CS/1541/2022, also nullified all the actions taken by Nwosu and his executives from that date.
Despite the Abuja court ruling, Nwosu, with his lawyers citing Nigeria’s electoral law, continued to parade himself as the ADC national chairman and even went as far as suspending the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Dumebi Kachikwu, who, however, successfully represented ADC during the presidential election on the strength of the Abuja ruling.
The fresh ruling issued by the Port Harcourt judiciary has also now voided Nwosu’s actions and mandated the police to arrest, prosecute and jail (if found guilty) the sacked party chieftain should he continue parading himself as ADC national chairman.
In suit No FHC/PH/CS/194/2022, Justice Ayua also mandated the state chairmen who challenged Nwosu in court to, within one month, conduct a national convention during which the party can elect new leaders at the national level.
This means that ADC would have new national leaders by the first week of May 2023.
Reacting to the news on Wednesday, Obinna called it “a welcome development”.
“I knew Nwosu’s actions would be nullified because they were carried out unlawfully.
He simply did not follow due process.
There was no written or oral complaint against Abia ADC.
There was no disciplinary committee. Nwosu took a unilateral decision and violated our constitution because we asked him for our N9.6 million which accrued from the 30 per cent of forms sold during our primary elections.
“Those who know me know that I am a warrior, a fighter. I have dedicated my life to fighting for what is right and this victory is an encouragement to those who stand against tyranny.
Keep standing strong.
“I want to use this opportunity to inform Abians and Nigerians that peace has returned to Abia ADC.
The court has done the noble thing. We are going to rebuild the party. It could take two or three years but we will get there.
“The court judgment is a victory for Abia ADC, for democracy, and for everyone who calls Abia home.
“We are not taking this for granted. The onus is now on us to prove to Abians that ADC is a party they can always trust,” he said.
Nwosu was not immediately available for comments.
