Party War Begins As APC Charges Defecting R-APC To Court

APC Drags R-APC To Court

The All Progressive Congress Party has started the process of prosecuting all defecting members in the R-APC as earlier promised.

Naija News  gathered  that the ruling party took the bold step earlier today through a statement released by its National Legal Adviser, Babatunde Ogala. According To Ogala the defecting party were charged with 4 criminal charges namely impersonation, fraudulent misrepresentation, conducts likely to breach public peace and infringement of copyright.

Reformed APC National Exco #rAPC
– Buba Galadima (National Chairman)
– Bala Gwagwarwa (National Deputy Chairman, North)
– Chief Theo Nkire (National Deputy Chairman, SouthEast)
– Eko Olakunle (National Vice-Chairman SouthWest)
– Hussaini Dambo (National Vice-Chairman, NorthWest) pic.twitter.com/Pime1CS2nb

— Maybeks (@Maybeks) July 5, 2018

Ogala who explained each of the criminal  charge stated that all  plans have been concluded  to take legal actions against the National Chairman of the Reformed-APC, Buba Galadima, and other members of the group.

Impersonation:
Mr. Galadima in his press release, copiously referred to himself as the substantive Chairman of R-APC a variant of APC whilst he knows full well that there is indeed no such political party in Nigeria. Also, he also suggests that he is the substantive Chairman of APC even though he knows that Com. Adams Oshiomole is indeed the party Chairman and Mr. Galadima never contested for Chairmanship at the just concluded convention of the APC. In the circumstance, Mr. Galadima has committed the offence of Personation as defined and punishable under Section 484 of the Criminal Code and the authorities will be requested to do their work in bringing him to account.

Fraudulent Misrepresentation:
To the extent that Mr. Galadima continues to perpetuate a falsehood knowing such falsehood of him forming a Political Party overnight and being Chairman either of same party or APC indeed to be untrue yet persists for the purpose of gaining either pecuniary or other benefits, he is guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation. In Ikechukwu Ikpa vs. The State (2018) 4 NWLR Part 1069 Page 175 – 240, the Supreme Court defines Fraudulent Misrepresentation to mean;‘a false statement that is known to be false or is made recklessly without knowing or caring whether it is true or false and that is intended to induce a party to detrimentally rely on it.’
In this case, Mr. Galadima knowingly made his false statement with the clear intention of deceiving Nigerians to abandon the APC and instead follow him and his gang.

Conduct Likely To Breach Public Peace:
Without a doubt, the declaration of Mr. Galadima if left unchecked is capable of leading to the public nuisance and a breach of peace across the country. Our loyal members are already agitated by the incendiary action of this group which runs counter to the beliefs, principles and creed of the APC.

Breach of Trademark and Infringement of Copy Right:
This for us is one of the key points of this address. We trust relevant authorities to deal with the criminal conducts of this group. However as it touches on our brand we are forced to quickly take steps to protect it from being subjected to erosion by the thoughtless actions of this group.
As Nigerians are aware, the coinage APC is both a mark and a copy right capable of being protected under the common law principles of passing off as well as under the extant provisions of the Copyright’s Act. Nigerians can only imagine what it would be like if we were to wake up one morning to a bank claiming to the Reformed First Bank Plc or a Construction company claiming to be the Reformed Julius Berger Plc formed by a group of its directors allegedly because they disagree with certain decisions taken at the board meeting! This will be viewed as a blatant assault on the brand for which both civil and criminal recourse can be sought.
So is it in this case that APC is a brand owned by its teeming members who have invested the National Executive Committee and other organs of the party with the power to protect this brand from abuse and erosion. We practice a multi-party democratic system and therefore cannot stop Mr. Galadima from forming his own political party if he so desires. However, he will not be allowed to do so using the APC brand. For the infringement so far committed by Mr. Galadima and the odium he has brought upon the APC brand we will be seeking civil redress against his person and that of his group. With respect to the criminal aspect of his conduct, we will be notifying the appropriate authorities to do the needful.

Nigerian's aren't fools. They can see through this nonsense. Whether its PDP/nPDP or APC/RAPC, changing your packaging does nothing if it is still the same product of incompetence and corruption.

— Kingsley Moghalu (@MoghaluKingsley) July 5, 2018