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Nigeria's Supreme Court on Friday sacked Mr. Orker Jev of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, representing Buruku Federal Constituency in Benue state at the National Assembly and ordered him to vacate his seat at the House of Representatives with immediate effect. Mr. Jev had gone to Supreme Court to challenge the decision of the Court of Appeal, Makurdi Division, which affirmed the ruling of the trial court which had earlier asked the Independent National Election Commission, INEC, to withdraw the certificate of return issued to him. Hopes for possible overturn of the decision of both the trial court and the appellate court were dashed as the apex court affirmed the decision of both courts and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct fresh election within 90 days to fill the vacancy caused by Jev's removal. Parties in the appeal before the apex court were Orker Jev, the appellant while Mr. Serkar Iortyom, the Independent National Electoral Comm...

The legal battle over the suspension of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi on Friday shifted to the National Industrial Court siting in Abuja following the decision of a Federal High Court which declined the jurisdiction to hear the matter but transfered it to the industrial court. There are however indications that even the industrial may not handle the matter as the suspended governor of the apex bank and the federal government have both filed applications before the industrial court asking the court to stay proceedings in the matter as both had filed notices of appeal challenging the decision of the federal high court. On the part of Sanusi, his contention is that the federal high court has jurisdiction to entertain his case. He relied on the provision of section 251 of the Nigerian constitution which gives the federal high court jurisdiction to entertain matters in which the federal government or agencies are party. On the other hand, the federal government is appealing the decision of Justice G...

As the crisis of leadership rocking the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, continues unabatedly, an Abuja High Court on Wednesday nullified the emergence of Chief Obasi Lawson as the association's national president and declared Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo as the authentic national President of IPMAN. The court's decision was sequel to a suit filed by Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo and 10 other members of the oil marketers association against the Chief Obasi Lawson led faction. A federal high court siting in Port Harcourt and presided by Justice Lambo Akanbi had in March nullified the continued stay in office by a former national president of the association, Alhaji Aminu Abubakar, and subsequently declared Chief Lawson Obasi as the group's substantive national president. Irked by the decision of the Port Harcourt court, Elder Okoronkwo and his group filed a notice of appeal as well as a motion on notice for stay of the court's judgment and thereafter a...

A three man panel of the Court of Appeal siting in Abuja and led by Justice Ahmed Yahaya on Wednesday struck out an appeal filed by sacked former chairman of Rivers state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Godspower Ake, a staunch allay to Governor Rotimi Amechi, challenging the decision of an Abuja High Court which sacked him from office. Following the decision of the Abuja court which sacked Ake alongside the former Secretary of the party and returned Chief Felix Obuah and Walter Ibibia Opuene as the chairman and secretary respectively, the ousted leaders, on behalf of themselves and other members of the state exco of the party, approached the appellate court seeking for an extension of time within which to appeal the decision of the Abuja court delivered in April, 2013 which brought about the inauguration of Obuah and Opuene, who are loyalists of the supervising minister for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike. Following their application before the appellate ...

The independence of the Nigerian judiciary as an organ of government was reaffirmed on Monday by Justice A R Mohammed in a judgment he delivered in a case instituted by Mr. Olisa Agbakoba, a senior advocate of Nigeria, challenging the current practice where funds appropriated for the judiciary are disbursed piecemeal by the executive arm of government. Agbakoba had dragged the federal government before the court over the current funding of the judiciary which he argued undermines the effectiveness and independence of the judiciary which always had to go cap in hand to the executive for the release of funds appropriated for it in the yearly appropriation Act, a situation which the senior advocate contended, compromises the functions of the judiciary. Agbakoba's suit basically sought to enthrone an independent funding regime for the Nigerian judiciary. The court held that the current practice of the judiciary submitting its budget estimates to the executive for onward transmission to...

Justice A. R. Mohammed of a federal high court siting in Abuja on Monday accepted the apologies rendered on behalf of the House of Representatives by Mr. A.B Mahmud, a senior advocate of Nigeria, for failing to appear as directed by the court to clarify the misinformation over a purported order stopping the House from probing the minister of petroleum over an aircraft charter transaction, as well show cause why the restraining order sought by the embattled minister should not be granted by the court. Mrs Diezanni Allison- Madueke had approached the court seeking to stop the House of Representatives from inviting her to its investigative hearing on an alleged N10 billion aircraft charter by the minister. She also wants the court to restrain the House of Reps from requesting or demanding from her any document relating to the controversial aircraft charter transaction pending the hearing and determination of her case. However, while the court declined to grant the interim orders sought fo...

Fair Play Africa: Sanusi Suffers Set Back In Return Bid : Exactly three months after his suspension from office as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, on Tuesday suffe...

Exactly three months after his suspension from office as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, on Tuesday suffered a set back in his bid to nullify his suspension and return to office, as a Federal High Court siting in Abuja has declined jurisdiction to entertain his suit wherein he is seeking for an order of the court declaring his suspension from office without the support of the Senate as null and void and of no effect whatsoever. Sanusi's suspension which came just about four months to his June retirement date, was announced on 2nd of February via a statement issued by the President Goodluck Jonathan's Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Reuben Abati, following a letter ordering his suspension dated 19th February and signed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim. The statement notes that the federal government had taken special notice of reports of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria and other inves...

S‎uspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and the apex bank on Wednesday moved for the dismissal of a suit instituted by shareholders of defunct Intercontinental Bank Plc. The shareholders of the bank, represented by Abdullahi Sani, Adaeze Onwuegbusi and Chijioke Ezeikpe, had dragged the suspended governor and the apex bank alongside rhe Security Exchange Commission, SEC, before a Federal High Court siting in Abuja, demanding the sum of N10 billion as special and general damages against Sanusi and the CBN for  breaches culminating  in the wrongful take over of Intercontinental Bank Plc by Access Bank. In separate preliminary objections, both the Sanusi and the CBNcontend that the suit was statute barred having been filled outside the time limit allowed for challenging acts of public officers. They also maintain that the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the suit by reason of the provisions of section 53(1) of the Ban...

Fair Play Africa: Accused Pension Director Seeks EFCC Dissolution : Embattled former director of Pensions at the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation, Dr. Shuaibu Sani Teidi,  who is standing tri...

Embattled former director of Pensions at the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation, Dr. Shuaibu Sani Teidi,  who is standing trial on an alleged embezzlement, on Tuesday approached a Federal High Court siting in Abuja asking the court to make an order nullifying the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Establishment Act which, according to him, is illegal, null and void. Speaking through his lawyer, Mr. Edgar Onoja, the former director urged the court to hold that the National Assembly went against the spirit of the Nigerian Constitution by setting up a body to perform the duties of the Nigerian Police Force contrary to the constitution.  "The purpose of this suit, is to declare the EFCC Act as unconstitutional since the organization carries out the duties of the Police. They apprehend offenders, investigate crimes and initiate criminal proceedings in court, all these are the duties listed to be carried out by the Nigerian Police. The EFCC enjoys the sta...

The National Judicial Council, NJC, on Monday challenged the jurisdiction of a  Federal High Court  siting in Abuja , to entertain a suit brought by the suspended Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice P.N.C Agumagu where he's seeking a judicial review of his suspension. The NJC had refused to recognize the judge as the Chief Judge of Rivers state and suspended him from office. The suspended judge however dragged the NJC before the court challenging his suspension and joined members of the investigative panel set up by the NJC to prbe him, as parties to the suite. The panel members are Justices Babatunde Adejumo, Jubril Idris and Comwell Idahosa. Agumagu prayed the court to restrain the members of an investigation panel set up to investigate the allegations against him from taking any further steps in respect of his case until the determination of the suit he filed. He also asked the court for an order of certiorari, removing to the court for the pu...

Following the failure of House of Representatives to appear before a Federal High Court siting in Abuja on Monday to clear the air on its claims that a purported order made by the court had barred them from going ahead with a scheduled investigative hearing on the alleged N10 billion aircraft charter by Minister of Petroleum, Diezanni Allison Madueke and the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, the embattled minister urged the court to grant her the reliefs she's seeking for in view of the way and manner with which the House of Reps is treating the Court's directives. The court had issued the directives  on 29th April  following media reports quoting the House of Representatives’ spokesman, Zakari Mohammed that the planned investigation of Alison-Madueke and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation by the House’s Committee on Public Accounts had been stopped by the court. The House of Reps was neither represented by its official nor a lawyer, which prompted...