Kwara APC Crisis: Balogun-Fulani, Counsel express divergent views on S’Court’s judgement

…case can still be remedied – KK Eleja

…we’re not challenging pronouncement – Party

By Mumini AbdulKareem and Kayode Adeoti

Last night came divergent reactions from the Ishola Balogun-Fulani-led executives and a member of the faction’s legal team, KK Eleja following Supreme Court’s pronouncement on the lingering leadership crisis rocking the Kwara State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
While Eleja (SAN) expressed hope that the case can still be remedied despite the pronouncement of the apex court, the party however differed saying it was no longer interested in pursuing the matter any further.
According to Eleja (SAN) who spoke during a telephone chat with National Pilot last night, the case can still be remedied despite getting to the Supreme Court even though the transmission of the record of appeal from the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court was outside the 14 days as required by law.
He said, “The matter was never considered on merit but struck out principally because the record of appeal was transmitted outside the 14 days allowed by law from the lower court to the Supreme Court.
“It was an issue that the court raised there and there was no opportunity to even remedy anything. The appeal was not heard,” he stated adding that the situation can be attributed to normal human error.
Asked what next, Eleja said, “I expect the client to look at the situation and take decision on whatever they want. Having gone this far, we are satisfied. It is their (our client) right to say some mistakes were made and take necessary steps to correct it…
“But it is something that can still be remedied at the Supreme Court depending on the disposition of the client,” he submitted.
However, the Balogun-Fulani-led faction told this medium last night that it has accepted the court’s pronouncement and ready to work with the Bolarinwa-led faction to move the party and the state forward.
In a telephone interview with one of our reporters, the Secretary of the faction, Christopher Ayeni, said the party is no longer interested in pursuing the case further even though it has avenue to do so.
He said, “The case was decided at this stage based on technical grounds raised by the respondents that the record of the appeal got to the Supreme Court late.
“It is good that we exhausted all the legal means available to us in the country and as a party man, we have no regret with what we have done and we will continue to rely on the party and work with the executives of Bolarinwa to make APC stronger in Kwara and to move the state forward.
“We will also work with all the elected officials in Kwara State and national including the Governor-elect, President Muhammadu Buhari and all the lawmakers within and outside the state. There is nothing that will warrant us to leave the party.
“We remain one and will continue to stay together. It was our grievances that we highlighted that they are wrong but technically we couldn’t tender out case in court. The pronouncement is okay by us, we agree with it,” he noted.
He said the party has revisited the situation and all the avenues to further pursue the case but “that might not be necessary since all the parties concerned are all Kwarans and what is important is that the APC must not fail”.
The apex court, on Wednesday in Abuja struck out the appeal filed by the Balogun-Fulani’s faction of the Kwara State APC, saying its case was not properly before the court.
Balogun-Fulani was asking the apex court to upturn the decision of the Appeal Court which affirmed BOB as the state Chairman of the party.
But the court in unanimous ruling of a five-man panel delivered by Justice Olukayode Ariwola, yesterday, held that the transmissions of the appeal were done outside the 14 days envisaged by the rules of court.
He said that since rules of court are meant to be obeyed, the appeal having defaulted is incompetent and should be dismissed.
The appellant Balogun-Fulani had challenged the dissolution of his executives by the National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole on July 30, 2018.
He is contending that his executive has a four-year tenure which had not expired before Oshiomhole dissolved them and set up a caretaker community.
At the court on Wednesday, lead counsel of Balogun-Fulani, Yusuf Ola Olu Ali (SAN) argued that their appeal should be heard because it is a pre-election matter that has a lifespan of 60 days at the apex court and will expire on Friday.
But counsel to the APC’s National Chairman, Akin Olujinmi (SAN) opposed the hearing of the appeal because it is not an election matter such.
He added that the case of the appellant is the dissolution of APC exco in Kwara and has nothing whatsoever to do with the election.
In his submission, lead counsel to the APC, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), however, aligned himself with the National Chairman of the party that the appeal has nothing to do with the election other than challenging the powers of Oshiomhole for dissolving the exco.
Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour, who presided over the five-man panel stood down to decide on whether it is a pre-election matter or not.
Recalled that in its ruling in February, the appellant court held that the Kwara State High Court lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter which it said was incurably defective from the beginning.
The BOB led-faction approached the appeal court following the judgment of the Kwara State High Court that Balogun-Fulani was the authentic chairman of the party.