The controversy over the two positions being held by the governor of Yobe State and National Caretaker Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mai Mala Buni, as governor and party chairman took another dimension yesterday as one of the litigants in the court case against the governor, Ambassador Umaru Iliya Damagum, has disowned the suit.

The suit filed at Federal High Court in Abuja is seeking the removal of Buni as the governor of Yobe State and the swearing-in of Damagun, who was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s gubernatorial candidate in Yobe State in the 2019 general election, as his replacement.

Speaking to THISDAY yesterday, Damagum said, “I was not consulted by my party, the PDP in Yobe State, or national secretariat before they went to court.

The whole thing is strange. It came to me as a surprise. I am not part of it.

I am not aware of this suit. I have not instructed anybody to go to court on my behalf. I have not instructed anyone to go and sue on my behalf.

My party did not consult me or tell me that they are going to court,

he added.

Flavision learnt that the governor was taken to court by a faction of the APC, who had earlier taken the Yobe State governor to the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), accusing him of false declaration of his assets.

It was further gathered that it was the forces in the APC that have moved against the Yobe State governor in a desperate bid to sack him.

Flavision gathered that it was the group that accused him of false declaration of assets.

They have told the court that he cannot hold two offices together as governor and chairman of the APC caretaker committee Buni, stating that it is against the letters of Section 183 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

The Yobe State Governor was appointed the chairman of the caretaker committee in June 2020, when the National Working Committee (NWC) led by Adams Oshiomhole was sacked.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.