Court Prevents Police From Detaining APC Ward Executive Over Ganduje Suspension

Judge prevents police from detaining APC ward executives who are the reason Ganduje was suspended.

A high court in Kano has issued an ex parte order prohibiting the police from “inviting, arresting, and harassing” APC ward officers in the wake of the national chairman Abdullahi Ganduje's suspension.

Presiding Judge Yusuf Muhammad also limited “any attempt by the APC national working committee (NWC), state council of the party, and APC acting national chairman from using security operatives to arrest or detain the ward executives” in his ruling on Thursday, while the motion on notice was being heard and decided.

The judge held: “An interim order of injunction is hereby granted restraining the respondents in the two consolidated suits, their officers, agents, privies, or any other officer serving under them from inviting, arresting, harassing or detaining the applicants in respect of the subject matter of the suit, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice already filed.

“It is further ordered that interim order for the motion on notice and all other processes in this suit shall be served on all the respondents, timeously and before the next adjourned date.”

Jafar Adamu, through his attorney Shamsu Jibrin, filed the ex parte motion on behalf of ten other people, including factional ward officers commanded by Laminu Sani Barguma and Haladu Gwanjo.

The petitioners are asking for the constitutionally guaranteed preservation of their fundamental human rights.

The APC, APC NWC, Kano APC state council, Inspector General (IGP), AIG zone 1 Kano, Commissioner of Police Kano, and Ganduje are the respondents. 

Ganduje was suspended by APC leaders in the Dawakin ward of Tofa LGA, Kano, in April due to allegations of corruption.

Judge Usman Na'Abba maintained the suspension even though the APC's state working committee in Kano declared it void and fined the ward executives.

This led the ward-level party executives to file a complaint against the judge with the National Judicial Council (NJC).

On April 22, nevertheless, Na'Abba overturned his previous decision.