The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Thursday, struck out a suit seeking an order stopping alleged attempts to reconvene the Senate without the authorisation of Dr. Bukola Saraki as the Senate President.
Justice Nnamdi Dimgba struck out the suit instituted by two senators loyal to Saraki on the grounds of lack of diligent prosecution by the plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs were Rabiu Adebayo (Senator representing Kwara South) and Isa Misau (Senator representing Bauchi Central), both of whom, like Saraki, recently defected from the All Progressives Congress to the Peoples Democratic Party.
The plaintiffs had instituted the suit following the controversy surrounding the calls for the National Assembly to reconvene to consider the budget of the Independent National Electoral Commission for the 2019 elections.
But the plaintiffs and many of Saraki’s loyalists within and outside the Senate had considered the call for the reconvening of the Senate as part of the moves by the ruling APC to get Saraki removed as the numero uno of the upper legislative chamber.
The Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), the Department of State Service and the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, were among the 12 defendants listed in the case. But no lawyer represented the plaintiffs at the resumed hearing of the suit with number, FHC/ABJ/CS/843/2018, on Thursday.
This prompted the lawyer representing the AGF, Mr. T. D. Agbe, to urge the court to strike out the case for want of diligent prosecution.
He said the plaintiffs and their battery of Senior Advocates of Nigeria led by Mr. Mahmud Magaji and Mr. Emeka Etiaba, were aware that the matter was slated for hearing on Thursday. – Punch
