The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday, asked the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court to compel the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, to declare himself as unfit to represent Kebbe/Tambuwal Federal Constituency.
The party declared that the embattled Speaker is holding the entire nation to ransom by continuing to occupy the seat of the Speaker of the House of Representatives having defected from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Alternatively, PDP urged the court to compel the Deputy Speaker of the House of Reps, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, to declare Tambuwal’s seat vacant.
The Speaker, on his part, has sent a petition to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, pleading with him to re-assign a fresh case seeking to remove him from office to a neutral judge.
The party contended that in-line with the provision of Section 68(1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, Tambuwal, having defected from the party that sponsored his election into the House of Representatives, ought to vacate his seat.
Moving the motion ex-parte for an order of Mandamus and injunction against Tambuwal yesterday, counsel to the PDP, Chief Mike Ahamba, SAN, insisted that under Section 68(2) of the 1999 constitution, it was mandatory for the 2nd Respondent (Tambuwal) as Speaker of the House of Representatives to declare vacant the Kebbe/ Tambuwal seat, considering that the occupant had defected from the party that sponsored him to the legislative house.
PDP prayers
PDP specifically prayed the court for “an order of Mandamus compelling the 1st Respondent to give effect to the provisions of Section 68(1) (g) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) by declaring the Kebbe/Tambuwal Federal Constituency seat vacant as required under section 68(2) of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“An order of injunction restraining the 2nd Respondent from performing or continuing to perform the function of the 1st Respondent in the House of Representatives, or sitting or continuing to sit in the House of Representatives as a member consequent upon the Order of Mandamus.
“In the alternative, an order of court compelling the 3rd Respondent to declare the Kebbe/Tambuwal seat vacant by an Order of Mandamus in terms of relief (a) supra.
PDP told the court that under Section 68(2) of the constitution, “Tambuwal has a mandatory duty to bring into effect the provisions of Section 68(1) (g) of the constitution.”
According to the party, “the 2nd Respondent is aware that he has left the Applicant and joined the All Progressives Congress, APC, by his open declaration on the floor of the House of Representatives on October 28, 2014.
“The 2nd Respondent has clung to the seat of Speaker of the House of Representatives and has refused to vacate same.
“Under section 53(3) of the 1999 constitution, as amended, the 3rd Respondent performs the function of the 1st Respondent in the absence of a Speaker in valid occupancy of the position, or legal incapacitation of the incumbent Speaker.”
Cited as Respondents in the matter were the office of the Speaker of the House of Reps, Tambuwal himself and Ihedioha, as 1st to 3rd Respondents, respectively.
Respondents on notice
Meantime, while granting PDP leave to commence the suit against Tambuwal, Justice Ahmed Mohammed ordered that all the Respondents should be put on notice, saying they should also be served with all the relevant court process.
The court further adjourned the matter till December 12 for hearing.
Affidavit in support of motion ex-parte
In a 16-paragraph affidavit in support of the motion ex-parte deposed to by one James Ugbogu, PDP told the court that: “The 2nd Respondent who was sponsored in the 2011 general elections by the applicant has left the party to join another party, the APC, and has so announced on the floor of the House on October 28, 2014, thereby informing the House on his present status as required by law.
“The announcement was broadcast live on Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), the African Independent Television (AIT) , Channel TV, Silverbird TV, and every other TV channel in Nigeria.
“The 2nd Respondent has collected Gubernatorial Nomination Form of the APC for Sokoto State to contest for the post of Governor in the 2015 general election after declaring for that party. That to the best of my knowledge, the 2nd Respondent is now a member of the APC.
“I have been informed by the National Chairman of the Applicant, Alhaji Adamu Mua’zu on November 20, 2014 at the National Secretariat, Wadata Plaza, Wuse Zone 5, Abuja at about 3.00pm that there is no division in the party, and I verily believe him.
“That the 2nd Respondent is the present incumbent of the 1st Respondent office and has failed to declare, or decided not to declare the Kebbe/Tambuwal Federal Constituency seat vacant as a result of personal interest protection in defiance to the provisions of the Constitution.
“I know as a fact, and as a lawyer that a constitutional duty is a duty owed to the whole nation, and the incumbent, in this case the 2nd Respondent, has a duty to perform the function irrespective of who is involved.
“Unless compelled by an Order of Mandamus, the 1st Respondent will not perform his official duty as provided under Section 68(2) of the Constitution, an office to which he has clung tenaciously in spite of his full knowledge of the consequence of a change of party membership.
“I also know as a lawyer that in the absence of the 1st Respondent, the 3rd Respondent performs the functions of the 1st Respondent, hence the alternative relief.
“The 2nd Respondent knows that he is no longer a member of the House of Representatives as a result of Section 68(1) (g), but also knows that only the act of declaration by the 1st Respondent can give effect to that provision of the Constitution to make his seat vacant. The 2nd Respondent is a senior lawyer.
Assign my case to neutral judge, Tambuwal pleads with CJ
Meanwhile, as the House of Representatives is set to resume plenary tomorrow, Tambuwal has sent a petition to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, pleading with him to re-assign a fresh case seeking to remove him from office to a neutral judge.
A member of the House, Mr. Isiaq Akinlade, is seeking to remove Tambuwal via an ex-parte order just as the members reconvene for plenary.
Tambuwal insisted that it was wrong for the trial judge to handle his case since he had already given a ruling on a similar matter.
Although Tambuwal had filed a case early last month to stop the PDP from declaring his seat vacant following his defection to the APC, Hon. Akinlade is praying the court to urgently send him away on account of his defection to the opposition party.
The speaker said handing the case to the judge would amount to him making an appeal on his previous judgement and a disservice to justice.
In the petition dated November 30, 2014, Tambuwal drew the attention of the CJ to five cases, which were similar to the one filed by the PDP rep.
Clark urges Adoke to write NASS
Meanwhile, elder statesman and former Federal Commissioner of Information, Chief Edwin Clark has urged the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke to as a matter of urgency write the National Assembly on the status of Tambuwal.
He argued that since the Speaker had dumped the PDP for the APC, the speaker ought to have not only lost his position, but his seat at the lower chambers in accordance with the constitution.
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