Court decides on House probe of Diezani Wednesday A Federal High Court in Abuja will Wednesday decide on the legality of the House of Representatives’ proposed probe of allegations that the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, spent over N10bn on chartered aircraft. Justice Ahmed Mohammed had on November 19 fixed Wednesday to deliver his judgment in the suit filed by the minister, her ministry and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, to stop the proposed probe. He adjourned for judgment after hearing supporting and opposing arguments in the suits. The National Assembly and the House of Representatives who are the defendants in the suit had urged the court to dismiss the suit. At the hearing of the suit, the lawyers representing the defendants asked the court to refrain from interfering with the activities of the legislature in respect of the principle of separation of powers as enshrined in the constitution by dismissing the suit. The plaintiffs had on June 19, 2014, obtained an order of interim injunction halting the probe from commencing pending the determination of the suit. But the plaintiffs’ counsel, Mr. Etigwe Uwa (SAN), urged the court to declare that the House Committee on Public Accounts mandated by the House of Representatives to conduct the probe had failed to fulfill legal requirements before summoning his clients for the purposes of the probe. Uwa insisted that by virtue of provisions of sections 88 and 89 of the Constitution and section 8(2) of the Legislatives Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act 2010, the House of Representatives lacked the power to summon them for the purposes of such probe without the consent of the President. He maintained that the House committee failed to obtain the President’s consent before summoning his clients, adding that the provisions of the laws remained valid as long as they had not been amended or repealed. “If they know it is a bad law let them (the National Assembly) repeal it (8(2) of the Legislatives Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act 2010) ,” Uwa said. He explained that the essence of the law requiring the consent of the President before summoning any minister for purpose of investigation was to insulate them from undue distraction. He added, “In one year, we received about 200 summons, part of which were from the Farouk Lawan committee. We all know what happened to that committee. We get summon every other day.” But counsel for the National Assembly, Yakubu Maikyau (SAN), urged the court to dismiss the suit. He said being allowed to probe the allegations against Diezani and other defendants was the only way the legislature could hold the executive arm accountable and boost the public confidence in the institution. ift.tt/1ACFiqq ift.tt/1qGUBZv [[Boost your social presence with NAIRALIKES nairalikes ]] #nigeria x #nairalikes #vanguardng
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 18:41:31 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015