Mohammed Goje
Goje appeals judgement. Mohammed Goje, the former governor of Gombe State, has filed an appeal against the ruling that sustained his removal from the All Progressives Congress.
The Senator representing Gombe Central Senatorial District also petitioned the Court of Appeal in Abuja for a stay of execution.
On June 27, Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court dismissed Goje’s suit seeking his dismissal from the APC as without merit.
In an appeal dated July 4 and filed through his counsel, Paul Erokoro, SAN, Goje told the Court of Appeal that the lower court erred in its finding that his right to a fair hearing was not violated when the hearing was conducted in absentia and on an earlier date than the notice to him.
He argued that the trial judge’s reliance on the technicality that the deponent was a practicing lawyer in the law firm that represented Goje, despite the fact that he was not participating in the matter, was insufficient to provide substantial justice.
Furthermore, he claimed that the Tanimu Abdullahi committee’s letter to him lacked specifics on the alleged anti-party acts, and that he had demonstrated that the notice was motivated by hatred.
He asked with the appellate court to keep the case on hold awaiting the outcome of the appeal.
Goje was fired by the APC Kashere Ward in Gombe State’s Akko Local Government Area due to charges of anti-party activity.
The former governor has launched a lawsuit to dispute his expulsion from the APC by the party’s Kashere Ward Executive Committee.
However, the claim was dismissed by the court presided over by Justice Obiora Egwuatu for lack of merit.
The former governor was given ample opportunity to testify before an investigating committee constituted by the party to look into claims leveled against him, but he did not do so, according to the justice.
Furthermore, the court noted that there was proof of evidence, including a newspaper issue in which he was summoned to appear before the committee, with the meeting specifics clearly specified.
As a result, the court determined that there was insufficient evidence to prove that his right to a fair hearing was violated.
It ruled that because the plaintiff had purposefully declined the offer, he could not thereafter claim that his right to a fair hearing had been infringed.
Senator Goje was suspended and later fired from the APC earlier this month, allegedly for anti-party activities.
He was accused of disrespect and treason toward the Gombe State party leadership, as well as working against party candidates in the state Assembly, Governorship, and National Assembly elections.
He was also accused of declining to attend APC presidential and local campaign rallies.
He was eventually removed from the party following the findings of an investigation panel formed by the Kashere Ward Executive Committee of the party and confirmed by the Ward Executive Committee.