The hearing of a suit filed by an All Progressives Congress, Deputy National Chairman (North) aspirant, Sunny Moniedafe,
was stalled on Tuesday at the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja due to the absence of the presiding judge, Justice Yusuf Halilu.
The case, which was scheduled for hearing, borders on Moniedafe’s demand for a refund of his nomination fee, following the party’s alleged failure to fulfill a promise to repay the amount.
Moniedafe, who participated in the APC’s national convention on March 26, 2022, filed the suit marked FCT/HC/CV/2434/2024, naming the APC as the sole defendant.
The claimant (Moniedafe) stated that he purchased the APC nomination form for the Deputy National Chairman (North) position at the cost of N10 million.
He explained that during the convention, the party’s leadership, under then-President Muhammadu Buhari, urged aspirants to step down, as the position of Deputy National Chairman has been agreed upon to go to someone from Borno State in the North-East geopolitical zone.
Buhari reportedly issued a directive for the refund of the N10 million paid by aspirants for the nomination form.
He however stated that “Disappointingly, the leadership of the defendant (APC) reneged on its promise and blatantly refused, failed, and neglected to refund the said N10 million from March 2022 to the time of filing this case, despite repeated demands by me.”
He added that several letters were sent to key APC officials and leaders, including Buhari, former Chief of Staff to the President, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, President Bola Tinubu, and former Senate President, Ahmad Lawan.
Other recipients included Vice President Kashim Shettima, former APC National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, and Femi Gbajabiamila, who was Speaker of the House of Representatives at the time.
The letters, which included reminders about the refund, failed to produce the desired outcome.
Moniedfe noted that at all material times to the directive, Buhari was regarded as the leader of the APC.
On this note, Moniedafe sought the following reliefs, “An Order directing the defendant to refund the sum of N10,000,000.00 (Ten Million Naira) to the claimant within seven clear days after the delivery of judgment in this case.”
