By Mumini AbdulHakeem
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday, said it will obey the high court judgement on the leadership crisis rocking the Kwara State chapter of the All Progresses Congress (APC).
Last month, a high court sitting in Ilorin sacked the Bashiru Bolarinwa-led executives and recognised the Ishola Balogun-Fulani faction of the APC in the state.
Since the judgement, INEC was yet to make any official statement regarding court decision.
The situation has however led to different interpretations of the court judgement by members of the two factions of the party in the state.
Although the BOB-led faction said it has appealed the judgement, no date has been fixed for the hearing of the appeal, it was gathered last night.
But in a telephone conversation on Wednesday from its Abuja headquarters with our reporter in Ilorin, INEC’s Director of Voters Education and Publicity, Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi said the commission will obey the court judgement on the matter.
He said he will find out if INEC had been served the court judgement on the issue.
According to him, ‘although I don’t have details about that (which faction is fake or authentic in Kwara) but all I know is that If there is a court judgement, we’ll obey it until … (set aside by a higher court).
“But I don’t know if the commission has been served yet, I have to find out from my legal department to be clear on that. But we will obey the judgement of the court,” he added.
The National Chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole, had dissolved the former APC executives, following the defection of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and installed the Bashir Bolarinwa-led state executives.
But Balogun-Fulani headed to court and insisted that the executive was constitutionally constituted.
In a judgement read by Justice Taoheed S. Umar, the court held that “the purported dissolution of the executive committee of APC led by Balogun-Fulani was illegal, null and void.
“The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should recognise the list of members of the executive committee presented by Kwara APC executive committee led by the Balogun-Fulani faction….,”the court held.
