The plot to remove Senate President and his Deputy, Senators Abubakar Bukola Saraki and Ike Ekwremadu through a lawsuit filed by five aggrieved senators against their election today suffered a major set back.
This followed the withdrawal of the case file from Justice Adeniyi Ademola by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court Justice Ibrahim Ndahi Auta.
The decision was taken as a result of a petition from the Deputy Senate President Senator Ike Ekweremadu against Justice Ademola.
In his place, the Chief Judge has appointed Justice Steven Evoh Chukwu also of the Federal High Court Abuja as the new Judge that would determine the case afresh.
Ekweremadu had petitioned Justice Ademola Adeniyi claiming that he would not receive justice from him on the strength of his relationship with former Lagos governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who is fingered as an interested outsider in the case.
In the petition to the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Mahmood Mohammed, Senator Ekweremadu claimed that the wife of Justice Ademola, Mrs. Tolulope was hurriedly appointed the Head of Service by Lagos State Government as part of an alleged measure to make Justice Ademola compromise in the case before him.
The Deputy Senate President insisted that the external influence from Lagos will rob him of justice if Justice Ademola was allowed to make pronouncement in the matter and demanded that the CJN disqualifies Justice Ademola from going ahead with the case.
Although the case has been slated for judgment, the Chief Judge of the federal high court was said to have withdrawn the case from Justice Ademola so that the interest of justice would be better served.
At the final adoption of brief of argument early this year, Saraki had told the court that he did not violate any law or breach any rule in the election that produced him as Senate President in June last year contrary to the claims against him by some aggrieved Senators.
Saraki told the court that he was returned un-opposed in the election by majority of the Senators present on the election day in the upper chamber following his due nomination and endorsement for the office.
In his preliminary objection to a legal action instituted against him and his Deputy, Saraki said that the election being challenged by five senators was free, fair and transparent by all standards and also conformed with the best practice of the world.
The Senate President who argued in the court through his counsel Mr. Kayode Eleja SAN had asked Justice Adeniyi Ademola to dismiss the court action against him as an abuse of court process, frivolous and unwarranted.
He said that the five senators who instituted the court action did not disclose what they lost by his election because none of them aspired or contested the senate presidency with him or any other officers and as such have no locus standi to come to court.
The five senators, Abu Ibrahim, Kabir Garba Marafa, Robert Ajayi Boroffice, Bareehu Olugbenga Ashafa and Suleiman Othman Hunkuyu had sued the senate president and his deputy claiming that the senate standing rule used in their election was amended without due process.
In their suit filed by their lawyer Chief Mamman Mike Osuman SAN, they asked the federal high court to set aside the election for being a nullity having allegedly violated the 2011 standing rule of the senate inherited in 2015.
But Saraki told the court that the process of the election in the senate was a domestic affair of the senators because no part of the 1999 constitution or any other law was violated to warrant any litigation and that the court has no business to inquire into the internal affairs of the senate.
“There are 109 senators in the senate and only five are challenging the election of the officers. The point is that, the interest of the five senators, if any at all, cannot over-ride or be larger than the interest of 104 other senators.
“If they are actually in the majority, as they claimed, they should go back to the floor of the senate and test their popularity rather than rushing to court on issues that are purely internal affairs of the distinguished senators.
“Up till now, they have not pointed out any infraction to the 1999 constitution or any other law in the conduct of the election, they have not told this court what they lost by the election of the Senate President and they have not told this court that they aspired to the office but was denied, they are in this court to waste the precious time of this court and I urge the court to show them the way out”, the counsel submitted.
Saraki’s counsel faulted the vote of proceeding brought to the court to file the action adding that being public documents, the five senators ought to have brought original or certified true copies instead of photocopies that are not admissible in law.
Counsel to Ekweremadu, Chief Patrick Ikweto SAN and Chief Ikechukwu Ezechukwu SAN who stood for the National Assembly adopted the position of Saraki.
However, counsel to the five senators, Osuman SAN claimed that the election violated constitution of the country because the guideline was drawn partly from the constitution.
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