The Federal Government has asked a Federal High Court in Abuja
to dismiss and or strike out the suit by two senators seeking to stop moves to
impeach Senate President Bukola Saraki.
Senators Rafiu Adebayo (Kwara South) and Isa Misau (Bauchi
Central) were seeking an interlocutory application restraining the Senate from
impeaching Saraki following his defection from the ruling All Progressives
Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The senators, who also decamped from the APC to the PDP,
were also seeking to stop reconvening of the Senate without the notice of
Saraki.
But the Federal Government, through a notice of preliminary
objection to the suit filed last week by the Attorney General of the Federation
(AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), had asked the court to
dismiss the suit for lack of jurisdiction.
The AGF argued that the senators had failed to show any
wrong done to them or Saraki, adding that the police invitation to the Senate
president for further investigation of an allegation could not create a cause
of action in their favour.
“My lord, in determining whether the plaintiffs have the
necessary capacity to institute the action, the claim must be examined to see
if there is any enforceable right in connection with the plaintiffs,” he said.
At the last hearing, Emeka Etiaba (SAN) and Mahmud Magaji
(SAN), representing the senators asked the court to make preservatory orders in
order to protect the subject matter before the suit.
The senators wanted the court to hold that by Section
50(2)(c) of the 1999 Constitution, the fact that the members of the Senate are
109 in number, “any number less than 72 out of the 109 members of the Senate
cannot validly sit and remove the President of the Senate of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria whether by impeachment or whatever name so called.”
Those joined as defendants in the suit were: The Senate, the
Senate president, Deputy Senate President, Senator Ahmed Lawal (Senate Leader),
Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah (Deputy Senate Leader), Senator Emma Bwacha (Deputy
Minority Leader), Clerk of the Senate, and Deputy Clerk of the Senate. The suit
had been fixed for hearing on September 13.
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