The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Thursday,
dismissed the suit seeking the withdrawal of the Certificate of Return of
Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege. Justice Ahmed Mohammed, in his
judgment, described the case as an abuse of court process.
Justice Mohammed, who held that the issue had
already been laid to rest after Justice Othman Musa of the FCT High Court,
Bwari, delivered a judgement in the matter, awarded a N300, 000 cost against
the plaintiff which must be paid to each of the defendants.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that
a group, the incorporated Trustees of Empowerment for Unemployed Youths
Initiative, had, on May 19, approached the court, asking to order the withdrawal
of the Certificate of Return issued to Omo-Agege. Also joined as defendants in
the suit are the Clerk of the National Assembly, the All Progressives Congress
(APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In a suit number: FHC/ABJ/CS/510/2020 filed by
its lawyer, Mr. Edward Omaga, the group also prayed the court for an order of a perpetual injunction restraining Omo-Agege from occupying the office of senator
representing Delta Central Senatorial District and deputy senate president.
The group said its suit was based on the
grounds that Omo-Agege was not a competent, fit and proper person to occupy
such an office considering the conviction hanging over his neck.
According to the group, this is as per the
judgement of the hearing of the Department of the State Bar Court sitting in
Los Angeles, California, USA, delivered on Nov. 30, 1995, whereupon Omo-Agege
was sentenced to jail and suspended from law practice for two years for felony
involving moral turpitude, forgery of cheques amounting to $890 with which he
intended to defraud the Bank of America, Ahined Mehone and Elpert Defrietas in
violation of California penal code section 470.
The plaintiff prayed the court for
interpretation of Section 68 of the 1999 Constitution; to determine whether by
the combined interpretation of Section 68(1) (b) of the 1999 Constitution, the
judgement of the hearing of the Department of the State Bar Court sitting in
Los Angeles, California, involving moral turpitude.
The plaintiff also prayed the court to award
N500 million damages against the clerk of the senate for accepting to declare
Omo-Agege deputy senate president after his nomination and election on June 11,
2019.
At the hearing of the suit on June 16, the
respondents’ lawyers, Dr Alex Izinyon, SAN, representing Omo-Agege, Chikosolu
Ojukwu representing the Clerk of the Senate and the APC, as well as Taminu
Inuwa, SAN for INEC, denied the alleged conviction, urged the court to dismiss
the suit and award substantial cost against the plaintiff.
They all insisted that the appellate court in
California in the US had cleared Omo-Agege of any wrongdoing in December 1996.
“Acquittal means legal certification that the accused is not guilty of the
offence,” Izinyon had argued. Justice Mohammed had, in the last sitting, fixed
Junes 25 for judgment after taking arguments from parties in the case.
Delivering his judgment, the judge upheld the preliminary objection filed by
the respondents.
Mohammed noted that the plaintiff ought to
have immediately withdrawn the suit on realising that the High Court of the
Federal Capital Territory in Abuja, a court with coordinate jurisdiction with
the Federal High Court, had already decided the issue in the suit.
“It is
manifestly clear from the judgment alluded to that, that there was no
conviction as alleged,” he held. The judge said that contrary to the contention
of the plaintiff, it was bound by the FCT High Court judgment despite not being
a party to a suit in which the said judgment was delivered.
“In light of the above, the plaintiff is
bound by the judgment of my brother, Justice O.A Musa of the FCT High Court
delivered on January 29 wherein it was declared that the defendant was not
convicted. He said what the suit intended to do was to bring up the issue
already laid to rest by judgment of the FCT High Court.
He added that by refusing to take an immediate
step of withdrawing the suit on being aware of the FCT High Court judgment, the
plaintiff “lends credence to the contention of the counsel for the first
defendant that the suit was filed in obvious attempt to annoy and irritate the
first defendant.”
He added that he must, therefore “truncate it
at this point by dismissing without the need to consider other issues”. He
dismissed the suit with a punitive cost of N1.2m awarded against the plaintiff
and its lawyer, Mr. Omaga. Justice Mohammed specifically ordered that the
plaintiff and its lawyer must pay the sum of N300,000 to each of the four
respondents – Omo-Agege, the Clerk of the National Assembly, APC and INEC.
See: The Nation
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