A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State, Adebayo Shittu, has dragged the party to court seeking for a halt to the membership registration in the state.
Shittu instituted a legal action against APC and five others over his exclusion from the Oyo State Harmonisation Committee ( OSHC), in spite of his nomination by the national body of the party.
The suit instituted at the Oyo State High Court had the APC, Gov. Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, Ag. National Vice-Chairman APC, Akin Oke, Chairman, Defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, Oyo State, as defendants.
Others are Razak Folorunsho, Defunct Chairman, All Nigeria Peoples Party, Oyo State and Sulaiman Oyaremi, Chairman, Defunct Congress for Progressives Change, Oyo State.
Shittu is seeking from the court an order of interim injunction restraining the SHC, constituted by the defendants, from operating pending the hearing of the motion on notice.
The aggrieved member also wants the defendants restrained from the distribution of membership registration materials and taking any further steps by themselves, their agents, privies and assigns towards the operation of OSHC pending the hearing of the motion.
He claimed that he was nominated by the defunct CPC as a member of the State Harmonisation Committee of the party which the defendants had inaugurated but denied him membership.
“I wrote a petition to the Acting National Chairman of the APC to complain about the irregularities. Despite receipt of the letter, the national leadership has failed, refused and or neglected to take steps to rectify the anomalies complained of.
Shittu was a governorship candidate of the defunct CPC in the state in 2011 elections and a three-time commissioner as well as a member of the Oyo State House of Assembly.
In his reaction, Oke, the Interim Chairman, Oyo APC told reporters that the complainants could have explored other means instead of the court action.
“He claimed to be a member of the party but felt the best way to resolve his grievance is to seek legal action against the party. Well, I don’t have much to say but wished him well,’’ he said.
The case comes up at the state High Court in Ibadan on Thursday, Feb. 6.