The All Progressives Congress on Tuesday
asked the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Mukhtar, to sanction
Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, Abuja for engaging
in mischief capable of bringing the Bench into disrepute.
The party accused Ademola of going
beyond “the reliefs” sought by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party in
its suit by restraining its lawmakers from engaging in any act that
could lead to a change of leadership in the House of Representatives.
It, however, said in a statement by its
Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, that it was
wrong for anyone to insinuate that Ademola ordered its lawmakers who
defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to vacate their seats in
the House.
According to the party, the judge
lacked the competence to deliver such a verdict since the issue of
whether or not the lawmakers could defect was not before him.
The party said it would appeal the
ruling since Ademola’s perpetual injunction was not only
unconstitutional, but also defeated the very purpose for which the
legislators were elected into the House.
“Justice Ademola’s unsolicited comments
were clearly gregarious, unnecessary, and superfluous and have no
foundation in law or fact, hence should be ignored,” it advised.
The statement partly reads,“APC asked
the CJN to act urgently to sanction Justice Ademola for engaging in
mischief that could bring the Bench into disrepute.
“If this case had been issued a day
later than Monday, we would have said the judge was caught in the web of
April fool. Alas, he indeed made the ruling on Monday, hence the need
for us to take it very seriously for several reasons.
“Firstly, the question whether the House
of Representatives members should vacate their seats was not a question
before Justice Ademola for determination.
“The only question for him to determine
was whether the APC members, with their numerical strength at that time,
had the right to change the House leadership such as the Majority
Leader, Chief Whip and their deputies. So, Justice Ademola had no
business commenting on seats being vacated.”
The APC also said it was highly
unprofessional and unethical for a judge to delve into a matter that
was subjudice in another court.
It stated that the question of seats
being vacated or otherwise was being heard by Justice Ahmed Mohammed of
the same Federal High Court in Abuja, who on March 29, 2014, said
the issue was still before him and was not ripe for judgment.
The APC recalled that it had on
December 14, 2013 warned against any attempt by the PDP and the
Presidency to turn back the hands of the clock as far as the cleaning up
of the Judiciary was concerned, by inducing a disreputable judge to
do its bidding.
The party urged its supporters not to
panic as the judgment was clearly intended to cause mischief, adding
that the plan by the PDP and the Presidency had fallen like a pack of
cards.
Also in Abuja, the Minority Whip of the
House, Mr. Sampson Osagie, accused Ademola of taking sides with the
PDP-led Federal Government in delivering the judgment.
Osagie, who led members of the APC
caucus to a news conference shortly after the House rose on Tuesday,
also accused the judge of overstepping his bounds by “injecting
opinions” not sought in the originating suit .
He recalled that all that the PDP
sought in the case was to restrain the lawmakers from effecting a change
in the leadership of the House.
He noted that the PDP had hinged the
prayer on the fear that by APC’s growing numerical strength in the
House, its lawmakers could change the leadership of the House.
The lawmaker argued that the judge’s action had made Nigerians to give several interpretations to the verdict.
“The only import of the judgment is that
the defected lawmakers cannot participate in the removal of the
leadership of the House. There is nothing more to it; the judge was not
called to offer any other personal opinion,” Osagie added.
He said, “Our colleagues have appealed the judgment, a copy of which has been served on the House.”
The legislator described the
development as an act of “desperation” by the PDP to cling on to power
in the face of the opposition by the APC.
“What we are experiencing is the high-handedness of a ruling PDP government that is desperate to hang on to power”, he said.
He assured Nigerians that the APC would remain focused in the face of the alleged manipulation by the PDP to hold on to power.
The PDP caucus remained calm on Tuesday, contrary to expectations that its members would raise the matter on the floor.
The session started and ended without a mention of the court judgment.
The only noticeable reaction on the
floor was that the PDP members were seen jeering jokingly at some of
the defected lawmakers, urging them to “return home.”
The APC members were heard responding, “no shaking”, “no going back”, “APC for life” and “forget the PDP.”
However, The PUNCH gathered that the calmness in the PDP camp was due to a few minutes meeting the members held preceding the sitting.
At the meeting, which was convened by
the Majority Leader of the House, Mulikat Akande-Adeola, the caucus
reportedly reviewed the judgment and agreed to maintain calm until they
had been served with a copy of the judgment.
“There is no point taking any hasty
decisions without first being served a copy of the judgment officially,”
a member of the caucus told The PUNCH.
When contacted on why the caucus was
silent on the judgment, the Deputy Majority Leader, Mr. Leo Ogor,
replied that further reactions would await the service of the judgment.
Ogor said, “We are waiting to be served a copy of the judgment. We don’t have a copy for now served formally on us.”
Asked whether his position was the
outcome of the meeting held before the sitting, he replied, “That is
what I am telling you. We have not been served with the copy of the
judgment.”
Efforts made by our correspondents to
get the PDP spokesperson, Chief Olisa Metuh, to comment on the
verdict were not successful.
Metuh, who was said to be attending a retreat in Bayelsa State, did not pick his call.
He also did not respond to a text message sent to his mobile telephone line.
