Oyo APC Primaries: Communication minister vows to appeal judgment

The Minister of Communication, Adebayo Shittu, has vowed to appeal against the high court judgment which struck out the suit he filed against the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The minister has dragged the party to court for barring him from participating in the governorship primary due to his non-participation in the mandatory one-year national service of the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) after he graduated from the university.

The Federal High Court, Ibadan, on Friday, struck out the suit for filing it after the expiration of the 14 days stipulated by the law.

But Shittu, who phoned into Southwest Political Circuit, a Fresh FM programme, revealed that he had already instructed his lawyers to appeal the judgment. He said the APC constitution prescribes that aggrieved members must fully explore all internal crisis resolution mechanism before going to court which accounted for why he could not challenge the party’s decision in court within the stipulated time.

According to him, his lawyers will prove all that at the appellate court. He expressed confidence of winning the case because the constitution does not list possession of NYSC certificate as a requirement for contesting as governor. He said the party was misguided into taking a wrong decision, which the court will correct.

Shittu, who is also a member of the break-away group from the APC in Oyo State, Unity Forum, insisted that all members of the group were still in the APC even though they are officially in the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

“They are in APC, you will have to show me when they resigned their membership of APC,” he said.

The minister also expressed confidence that President Muhammadu Buhari will reappoint him, saying Buhari would not appoint “failed politicians.”