2027: NRM alleges plot to hijack party

2026-03-05 - 17:57

By Luminous Jannamike ABUJA — The National Rescue Movement (NRM) on Thursday accused some political actors of trying to use the courts to take control of its leadership ahead of the 2027 elections. The party said what began as an internal disagreement has now grown into a larger issue involving the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), alleging that attempts are being made to pressure the electoral body into recognising what it described as an illegal convention. Journalists were briefed at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja by the party’s National Chairman, Prince Chinedu Obi, who spoke on behalf of the National Management Committee (NMC), the National Executive Committee (NEC), and members of the party nationwide. “INEC is not in breach of any court order in relation to the National Rescue Movement (NRM),” Obi said. According to the NRM chairman, the crisis began on September 19, 2024, when the party suspended its then National Chairman, Mr. Isaac Chigozie Udeh, over alleged anti-party activities and gross misconduct. He explained that a vote of no confidence was passed on September 23, 2024, and a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting was scheduled for January 2025 to ratify both decisions. Obi said that before the meeting could hold, the suspended chairman wrote to INEC claiming to convene an Emergency National Convention, even though the NEC — the only body empowered by the party’s constitution to call such a convention — had not approved it. He said INEC reviewed the notice and, within 24 hours, informed the party in writing that it did not comply with both the party’s constitution and the Commission’s guidelines. The matter later went before the Federal High Court, which on March 5, 2025, ordered INEC to accept, monitor and recognise a convention of the NRM. Obi said the party complied with that order by notifying INEC of its Emergency National Convention held on April 14, 2025. He said the Commission monitored the exercise and has since recognised its outcome. However, he alleged that one Edozie Njoku later wrote to INEC asking it to recognise what he described as a convention allegedly held on January 17, 2025. “He (Njoku) further relied on an illegal convention at which he purportedly was ‘elected’ National Chairman without the participation or approval of any organ of the Party and without the presence of INEC. “It is instructive to note that as of January 17, 2025, when Mr. Njoku claimed to have been elected, he was not qualified to contest or hold any elective office within the National Rescue Movement. The Party Constitution requires a minimum of twelve (12) calendar months of continuous membership for eligibility. “As recently as November 2024, two months earlier, Mr. Njoku was still parading himself as National Chairman of APGA until his removal by the Supreme Court, and no waiver was granted to him by the Party,” he added. Obi also disclosed that contempt proceedings were later initiated against the INEC Chairman over alleged disobedience of a court order. “We understand that the immediate past Chairman of the Commission firmly resisted this intimidation and robustly defended the institutional integrity of INEC. “INEC is fully in compliance with the judgment of the Federal High Court, and the Party categorically dissociates itself from the allegations of non-compliance being circulated by detractors.” He called on the Chief Justice of Nigeria to caution judicial officers against forum shopping and urged the media to remain vigilant.