Appeal court affirms Sowore as substantive chairman of AAC

The court of appeal in Abuja has affirmed Omoyele Sowore as the substantive chairman of the African Action Congress (AAC).

In May 2019, the AAC reportedly suspended Sowore, who was the presidential candidate of the party in the 2019 elections, as well as Malcolm Fabiyi, who was deputy national chairman.

Sowore, who is a founding member of the AAC, had alleged that some members of the party were in cahoots with “external agents” to hijack the party.

In July 2019, a federal high court in Abuja, presided over by Inyang Ekwo, ruled against the former AAC presidential candidate.

Sowore had, in an appeal marked CA/A/812/2019, challenged the judgment which declared Leonard Nzenwa as the acting chairman of the party.

Delivering judgment in the appeal on Thursday, a three-member panel of justices led by A.J. Adah held that the lower court has no jurisdiction to meddle in the internal affairs of the party.

Consequently, the appellate court set aside the judgment of the lower court recognising Leonard as acting chairman.

The court further awarded the sum of N200,000 as damages against the respondent in favour of Sowore.