Four National Party Chairmen Who Were Booted Out Of Office

Nigerian two major political parties, the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party, have a history of undergoing internal crises that sometimes lead to the sacking of the parties’ national leaders.

Daily Trust takes a look at four of those former national leaders of the two parties who were booted out of office.

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Adams Oshiomhole

Adams Oshiomhole emerged as the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on June 23, 2018 after being voted by delegates at the party’s national convention. But his reign lasted about two years, after a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, ordered his suspension on March 4, 2020.

The court, in a ruling by Justice Danlami Senchi, directed that Oshiomhole should remain out of office pending the determination of a substantive suit that was brought against him by some aggrieved members of the party, who had among others, challenged the legality of Oshiomhole as the party’s national chairman despite having previously been suspended as a member of the party from his Etsako Ward 10, in Edo State.

In a ruling on Tuesday, June 16, 2020, by an Appeal Court sitting in Abuja, a three-man panel affirmed the suspension of Oshiomhole as the national chairman of the APC based on an ex-parte application brought against him by some members of the party.

Uche Secondus

Secondus was elected as the National Working Committee chairman of the PDP on December 10, 2017 at Eagles Square, Abuja, after a “keenly contested” election. He had acted as national chairman of the party following the resignation of Ahmed Adamu Muazu, the former party’s national chairman and ex-governor of Bauchi State, shortly after PDP was ousted out of power in 2015.

Crises began to brew within the party under Secondus’ leadership, which, among other worrying developments, led to the resignation of seven members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) who cited Secondus’ leadership style as a reason.

On September 10, 2021, a High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, upheld the suspension of Secondus as the national chairman, following his suspension at Ward 5, in Andoni Local Government Area of the state. Some aggrieved members of the party had dragged Secondus to the court.

Ali Modu Sheriff

Ali Modu Sheriff is a former governor of Borno State, who on February 16, 2016 became the (acting) PDP chairman, National Working Committee. He was however removed from office during the 2016 National Convention.

The Supreme Court on July 12, 2017 in a five-man panel ruling upheld the removal of Sheriff as the PDP national chairman and affirmed the election of a former Kaduna State governor, Ahmed Makarfi, as the authentic chairman of the party, after a protracted legal battle that affected the unity of the party.

Mai Mala Buni

The Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni, became the acting national chairman of the ruling APC on June 25, 2020 following the dissolution of the party’s NWC led by Oshiomhole then.

Buni became the party’s national leader amidst a raging crisis within the party which prompted the National Executive Council (NEC) to summon a meeting. Consequently, a resolution to give the Buni-led interim committee six-month period to organise a national convention and produce the substantive leaders of the party was reached.

On March 7, 2022, reports filtered in that Buni, who had been piloting the affairs of the ruling party since June 2020, had been sacked on the order of President Muhammadu Buhari, consequently leading to the taking over by the Niger State governor, Sani Bello, as the acting national chairman of the party.

As the race to 2023 elections gathers momentum, more political intrigues to play out in the camps of the two major parties remain to be seen.