Hearing in the substantive suit seeking to stop the conduct of congresses in the Delta State chapter All Progressives Congress (APC) was stalled Tuesday following the transfer of the case.
The suit was adjourned last Wednesday to September 7 after the court presided over by Justice Onome Marshal Umukoro granted an ex parte motion of the claimants seeking to restrain the conduct of local government congress in the state by the 2nd to 15th respondents.
Deputy chairman of the state caretaker committee of the APC Elvis Ayomanor and seven other officials of the party sued the party, the chairman of the party’s Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), Governor Mai Mala Buni, and 13 others, seeking to stop the congresses.
At the resumed session, lead counsel to the respondents Niyi Akintola, SAN, had hardly announced his interest in the matter when the presiding judge told the respective counsel that the case had been transferred.
Justice Umukoro told the counsel that they would communicate on the next hearing date.
Speaking to reporters, Akintola insisted that the matter was an internal party affair, noting that no court has jurisdiction to entertain it.
He accused some lawyers of deceiving their clients, adding that whatever decision taken by the National Judicial Council (NJC) against judges giving conflicting judgements should also be visited on lawyers who do mislead their clients.
‘We have filed our defence, so we are awaiting the decision of the Chief Judge as far as re-assigning this matter is concerned,’ he said.
Although counsel to the claimants Daubry Ebipade declined to comment on the case, Ayomanor, his client, said there was nothing wrong with the transfer of the case.
‘This is a vacation court, and I think the court is resuming by next week. So continuing with this case, the judge might be able to conclude it, maybe that is the reason for the transfer for the case to go to a normal court. It is not new, it is not strange, cases are transferred in courts.
‘Our lawyer is very ready, he is able and we have a good case. We are talking about people who got an injunction to stop the congresses and they went ahead with it.
‘We have an injunction against Jones Erue not to parade himself as state chairman but the same Jones is jumping around everywhere, going to places, giving flags to bye-election candidates as the state chairman, flouting the orders of the court,’ Ayomanor said.
He said the restraining order by the court stopping the local government congress in Delta State was very clear, adding, however, that the party deliberately violated it by conducting the congress in the state.