- Deputy Speaker of Lagos state House of Assembly, Wasiu Eshilokun-Sanni, has dragged Muiz Banire, the party’s national legal adviser to Ikeja Division of the Lagos High Court
- Mr Eshilokun-Sanni also accused Mr Banire of involving in series of anti-party activities and breach of several provisions of APC Constitution
Deputy speaker of Lagos state House of Assembly, Wasiu Eshilokun-Sanni, has dragged Muiz Banire, the party’s national legal adviser before an Ikeja Division of the Lagos High Court over forgery of his purported withdrawal letter from the 2015 election into Lagos Island Constituency 1 of the House.
Mr Eshilokun-Sanni, who filed the suit alongside two APC chieftains Babatunde Kehinde and Kazeem Olatunji is asking the court to declare Mr Banire as unfit to keep occupying the office of the party’s National Legal Adviser owing to the forgery of the purported letter of withdrawal, series of anti-party activities and breach of several provisions of the APC Constitution.
NAIJ.com gathered that the APC lawyer worked with the state chapter over his criticism of the party’s imposition of candidates for electoral positions at the just concluded Lagos local council elections, Premium Times reports.
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On Friday, July 29, the national body set aside Mr Banire’s suspension, a day earlier, by the party’s executive committee in his own constituency in Mushin local government area.
Meanwhile, in a 37-paragraph supporting affidavit detailing Mr. Banire’s alleged offences, Mr. Eshilokun-Sanni averred that having scaled through the nomination and screening of aspirants processes, he contested the primaries of APC on December 2, 2014, along with seven other aspirants and emerged as the party’s candidate for election into Lagos Island Constituency 1 of the House of Assembly by pooling 186 votes out of the total number of 279 valid votes cast, with his closest rival, one Akeem Masha, pooling a distant 70 votes.
Mr Eshilokun-Sanni said upon the announcement of his name as the winner of the primaries by the party, he received several congratulatory messages including from the then APC flag bearer for the 2015 governorship election in the state, Akinwunmi Ambode (now Governor), while the party issued him with the nomination form as its candidate for the election.
However, according to the Lagos lawmaker, in a gross violation of his legal right as the duly elected candidate of the party, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) unlawfully substituted his name with that of Mr. Masha as the candidate of the party for the election based on a false withdrawal letter caused to be written by Mr. Banire in his capacity as National Legal Adviser.
Mr Eshilokun-Sanni also approached the Federal High Court in Lagos and in a judgment in suit with reference number FHC/L/CS/34/2015, Justice Mohammed Buba upheld the reliefs sought and ordered his reinstatement as the lawful candidate of the APC.
He said ever since Mr. Banire unlawfully substituted his name and caused a purported withdrawal letter to be written, the party was yet to set any machinery in motion for him to explain or justify why the letter was written, adding that by the development, Mr. Banire had betrayed the confidence reposed in him as the National Legal Adviser and his standing as a legal practitioner, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and a bencher.
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Mr. Eshilokun-Sanni also accused Mr. Banire of involving in series of anti-party activities and breach of several provisions of APC Constitution such as Article 21 (a) (ii), Article 21 (a) (v), Article 21 (a) (v), among others.
He also said that Mr Banire, in breach of Article 21 (a) (x) of the party’s Constitution, filed an action in court against the chairman and other principal officers of the APC in Lagos State without first exhausting all avenues provided for in the constitution of the party.
Based on the foregoing, Mr. Eshilokun-Sanni has urged the court for a declaration that having breached the established legal principles but not limited to the provisions of the APC Constitution (2014), Mr. Banire be removed as National Legal Adviser and a declaration that he is entitled to be expelled from the party or vacate office with immediate effect in accordance with Section 21 (d) (v) for the suit he instituted against the state chapter concerning the conduct of primaries for Local Government election and denouncing the entire process.
Meanwhile, NAIJ.com had reported that the Deputy Speaker of Lagos state House of Assembly, Honourable Wasiu Eshilokun Sanni dragged the national legal adviser of the APC, Muiz Banire before a Lagos High Court in Ikeja.
The lawmaker's action is over an alleged forgery of his purported withdrawal letter from the 2015 election into Lagos Island Constituency 1 of the House.
Watch the NAIJ.com TV interview with an APC chieftain, Comrade Timi Frank talking about the crisis in the ruling party.