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Court floors Melaye, six others

By Andrew Orolua Abuja
Posted: Saturday, September 4, 2010

The Federal High Court in Abuja yesterday refused to order the reinstatement of seven members of the House of Representatives who were placed on suspension from the House since June.
The members are; Dino Melaye, Independence Ogunewe, Solomon Ahiwinahwi, Bitrus Kazeh, Abba Anas Adamu, Austin Nwachukwu and Doris Uboh were suspended from the House on June 22 for forwarding a petition to the Economic and Finacial Crime Commission [EFCC] detailing fraud allegedly committed by the Speaker Dimeji Bankole.
 They rushed to the court for redress, urging it to declare the action of the house illegal and for it to re-instate them in their respective seats as representatives of their constituencies.
Ruling on motion for interlocutory injunction filed by Hon. Melaye and five others which sought to restrain the defendants from preventing the suspended members from carrying out their legislative duties, Justice Adumu Bello dismissed the entire application for lack of merit.
He said that the court cannot grant their request without first hearing the defendant’s complaints that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter.
 According to him, “because of challenge on jurisdiction the issue arose whether the court can grant the applicant’s request. The court must hear the issue of jurisdiction before it can entertain the case,” he said.
Justice Bello, who broke his annual leave to deliver the ruling, said the court also declined to grant the suspended lawmakers’ request because of the nature of the interim relief which was same as the relief prayed for in the main motion. “The main issue cannot be determined in the interlocutory injunction”.
 It was also cleared that the action complained of, that is the suspensions, have been completed and interim order of injunction is not remedy for act already completed, the judge further ruled.
“On these scores the application for interlocutory injunction cannot be granted and I refuse it and it is hereby dismissed in its entirety”. Justice Bello ordered that the ruling also applied to Hon. Doris Uboh’s case who was also seeking for reinstatement.
The substantative cases have been adjourned to 4th October 2010 for adoption of written addresses. The long adjournment came even as Doris Uboh ‘s lawyer Orji Nwafor-Orizu complained that the suspended members were likely to have difficulties with their primaries if the matter was not resolved urgently.
The court will resume on 20th September from vacation and the judges would immediately proceed on a week’s annual conference in Port Harcourt, a meeting which Justice Bello said he cannot wave aside.