Judgment on Lawmakers' Defection Suit Aborted

 

The  judgment in the suit filed by 79 lawmakers who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) could not be delivered yesterday as the plaintiffs filed another application before the Federal High Court in Abuja

The plaintiffs, Senator Abdullahi Adamu and 50 defecting members of the PDP in the House of Representatives and 22 senators had through an originating summons filed by their counsel, Mahmud Magaji (SAN) prayed the  court for an order restraining Alhaji Bamanga Tukur (1st defendant), the Senate President (2nd defendant), Speaker of the House of Representatives (3rd defendant) and the PDP (4th defendant) from declaring their seats vacant in the event of their defection to the APC.

All parties in the suit had adopted their written addresses after which the presiding judge, Justice Ahmed Mohammed fixed yesterday for judgment.
However, the judgment could not go on as the plaintiffs brought another application seeking a referral of the suit to the Court of Appeal to determine whether they (plaintiffs) could enjoy the proviso to Section 68(1)(g) of the Constitution, which allows defection on the basis of a division within their parties.

Magaji said the application was necessary because there were five different suits on the same matter pending before various high courts.
He further prayed the court to adjourn indefinitely to enable the Court of Appeal to hear the matter.

Opposing the application, counsel to Tukur and PDP, Chief Joseph Kkyari-Gadzama (SAN) stated that the application was a plot to arrest the judgment of the court.

He added that the plaintiffs did not have the power to bring a referral application since they were the ones who approached the court first.

He further submitted that it was only the court that could on its own  refer the matter to the Court of Appeal.

He prayed the court to throw out the application and deliver its judgment.
After listening to arguments of all parties in the suit, Justice Mohammed adjourned till March 28 for ruling.

At the hearing stage, the Speaker of the House, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal had told the court that he was opposed to the suit.
The defendants said they objected to the originating summon “factually and legally,” adding that “the law says there must be a division or faction to warrant defection.”

Gadzama had adopted his preliminary objection to the originating summons and asked the court to strike out the suit on the grounds that the plaintiffs lacked the locus standi to initiate the case, adding that the matter was not justiceable.

He said it was few individuals who defected and referred to the circumstances surrounding their defection as, “friction, fiction and fraction due to mere in-house disagreement in the PDP."

Gadzama stated that, “In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/605/2013, (between PDP and others against INEC and others), Justice Evoh Chukwu of the Federal High Court Abuja, on October 18, 2013, decided there was no division or faction in PDP. This suit is our magic wand.”

He said the matter was most “unmeritorious” and, therefore, urged the court to dismiss the suit.

Counsel to Senator David Mark and Tambuwal also objected to the originating summons and, therefore, urged the court to dismiss it as an abuse of court process.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did not file an objection and chose to remain neutral.

However, in response, the plaintiffs urged the court to discountenance the preliminary objection of the PDP.

While adopting his brief, the plaintiffs’ counsel, Magaji, urged the court to uphold his prayers as contained in the originating summon.

While replying on points of law, the plaintiffs’ counsel cited a Supreme Court judgment in Goni v FEDECO 1979, which ruled that an evidence was required to prove a division in a political party.

Magaji contended that the suit in which Tukur instituted against Abubakar Baraje of the defunct New PDP was an evidence of division because, Tukur had wanted the court to decide between his executive committee and that of Baraje, who the authentic leadership of PDP was.

SOURCE:www.thisdaylive.com