.•••SAYS HIS RECOGNITION BREACHES COURT ORDER
The former National Secretary, of the All Progressives Congress Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, CECPC, Senator John James Akpanudoedehe has moved against the recognition Mr. Stephen Leo Ntukekpo as the Akwa Ibom State Chairman of the Party.
The Taiwo E. Taiwo Chambers has on Tuesday, written, to the National Chairman All Progressives Congress APC, National, Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu over the recognition of Ntukekpo as th State Chairman of the Party.
Taiwo Chambers are the legal counsels to the former APC National Secretary, former CECPC, Senator Akpanudoedehe.
In the letter titled; “APPEAL DATED 7th APRIL 2022”, the lawyers said the party disregarded the order of the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on the 7 of April, 2022 , to recognize Mr. Stephen Leo Ntukekpo as the Akwa Ibom State Chairman of the APC.
The lawyers stated that the APC, disobeyed directives of the Court that the status quo be maintained with regards to the judgment of the trial Court pending the determination of the extant Motion for Stay of Execution as well as the Motion challenging the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the appeal.
According to the lawyers of Akpanudoedehe, despite the fact that a copy of the said order was made available to the APC Chairman with an attached ANNEXURE 001 for his ease of reference, he still ignored it and went ahead to accept Ntukekpo.
The letter signed by Taiwo Taiwo (SAN) added that the said Order was served on the Chairman’s Legal Department on April 11, 2022.
According to Akpanudoedehe’s lawyers, inspite, of the fact that the APC Chairman was duly represented by his counsel in court when the order was made as is apparent on the face of the order, the party still went ahead to recognize Ntukekpo.
Akpanudoedehe said through his lawyers that inspite of the order, the first Respondent (Mr. Stephen Leo Ntukekpo) presented himself to the party to be sworn in as the Akwa Ibom State Chairman of the party and was obliged by the party.
He stated that the act was done despite the fact that both Stephen Leo Ntukekpo and the party are parties in the Appeal and therefore bound by the order of the Honourable Court of Appeal.
The lawyers stated that despite the judgement of the Appeal Court, Mr. Stephen Leo Ntukekpo, the first respondent in the appeal proceeded to Akwa Ibom State to swear in some other people, as his members of his Executive Council both at the State and Local Government Levels, adding that he further altered the status quo that was ordered to be maintained by the Court of Appeal.
The lawyers said the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the party is scheduled to hold on the 20° April, 2022, and that any attendance of the meeting by the first respondent (Mr. Stephen Leo Ntukekpo) as the Akwa Ibom State Executive Chairman of the party, will constitute a further serial breach and noncompliance with the extant order of the Court of Appeal.
The lawyers, warned the APC National Chairman, against admitting Ntukekpointo the NEC meeting, stressing that doing otherwise would constitute a further noncompliance and total disregard to the extant orders of the Court of Appeal.
