— Judge has turned law on its head – APC
Ameh Ejekwonyilo and Ayodele Adegbuyi
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja yesterday ordered the 37 members of the House of Representatives who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress to vacate their seats.
It also gave an order of perpetual injunction restraining them from altering the current leadership composition of the House.
Delivering judgment in the case, Justice Adeniyi Ademola held that the decamped lawmakers no longer had any business, morally and legally, to stay in the House.
He said they should honourably resign from their seats as Reps members, having moved to another political party when their tenure had not yet expired.
Justice Ademola said: “Having perused the arguments of counsel and the constitutional provisions, it is clear and unambiguous that the defendants were sponsored by the PDP and won the election on its platform.
“It is also the court’s opinion that their tenure has not expired and there is no division in the PDP.”
He added: “The defendants are, therefore, not competent to vote or contribute to any proceedings in the House of Representatives.
“An order of perpetual injunction is hereby ordered, restraining them from altering or attempting to change the leadership of the House of Representatives.”
You would recall that the PDP had, on January 7, 2014, instituted a suit seeking to restrain the House of Representatives from altering the composition of its leadership.
The party had commenced the action following the decamping of the 37 lawmakers who won election on its platform to the opposition APC.
The PDP’s counsel, Mr Yunus Usman (SAN), had, while arguing his originating summons, faulted the cross-carpeting of the lawmakers, saying they did so during the dependency of a judgment.
He argued that by virtue of the October 2013 judgment of Justice Evoh Chukwu, which said there was no division in the PDP, the matter had been laid to rest.
Counsel to the defendants, Mr Mahmud Magaji (SAN), had, in his submission, argued that it was wrong for the PDP to have sought to restrain its former members from House activities for defecting.
Reacting to the judgement, however, the APC Caucus in the House of Representatives said it would challenge the ruling of the court.
The APC leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, in a statement titled “Court Turned Law on its Head, APC to Appeal Judgment,” described the ruling as “a strange judgment that turned law on its head.”
Gbajabiamila argued that the judgment was a product of error of court that the APC lawmakers would be willing to appeal at a higher court.
He said: “The judgement is strange and will be appealed. No person can be compelled by law to stay in an association against his or her wishes.”
The APC leader argued that the judgment was an affront to right of association of the lawmakers.
He said: “It negates a fundamental right of association of every citizen that is inalienable. Section 68 of the Constitution has been turned on its head and the error of the court is manifest.”
April 1, Blueprint Newspaper
