A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Mrs. Abimbola Olajumoke Olawumi, was allegedly abducted in Abuja on Wednesday shortly after leaving the Court of Appeal.
According to sources close to the matter, the incident happened after Olawumi went to the court to obtain Certified True Copies of documents related to her lawsuit challenging the APC governorship primary in Ekiti State.
Earlier in the day, sources said, she had appeared in person before the Supreme Court to pursue her appeal against the primary that produced Governor Abiodun Oyebanji as the party’s candidate.
The apex court granted her leave to argue as a litigant in person.
After she presented her case and cited authorities, the court directed her to first get CTCs from the Court of Appeal before the matter could proceed.
It was immediately after she left the Court of Appeal to do that, that a group of suspected hoodlums reportedly attacked her, bundled her into a black SUV, and drove away to an unknown location.
As of press time, Olawumi’s whereabouts were still unknown and no motive had been confirmed.
The timing of the alleged abduction has linked it to her ongoing legal battle over the Ekiti primary.
The Nigeria Police Force had not issued a statement. The FCT Police Public Relations Officer, SP Josephine Adeh, could not be reached for comment.
Olawumi has been challenging the outcome of the APC primary in Ekiti through the courts for months.
In an earlier ruling, the Court of Appeal in Abuja upheld Oyebanji’s candidacy.
A three-member panel led by Justice Adebukola Banjoko dismissed Olawumi’s appeal, saying her brief violated court rules by exceeding the page limit and lacked competent arguments.
The court also granted Oyebanji’s cross-appeal, faulting the trial court for describing Olawumi as an “aspirant” under the Constitution and the Electoral Act 2022.
In June, another panel of the Court of Appeal dismissed her application to reopen the case after judgment had been reserved. In a unanimous decision, the panel called the application “hopeless, reckless” and an abuse of process.
Justice Okon Abang, who delivered the lead judgment, said it was unprecedented to seek to reopen an appeal simply because she had changed lawyers and wanted to amend her brief.
The court noted she was present and represented when the appeal was heard on June 2, and held that no law permits such a request.
