Topic: 37 Reps - We Will Not Vacate Our Seats  (Read 1265 times)

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37 Reps - We Will Not Vacate Our Seats
« on: April 02, 2014, 08:55:13 AM »
In defiance of what it described as a misleading court ruling by Justice Adeniyi Ademola, the All Progressives Congress (APC) caucus in the House of Representatives has declared that the 37 members who defected from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will not vacate their seats.

Speaking on behalf of the caucus which held a press briefing yesterday in the National Assembly, minority whip, Hon Samson Osagie (APC, Lagos) said that the part of the ruling that mentioned the lawmakers vacating their seats was a mere “opinion” since the case before the court was only to stop a change of leadership in the House.

He also disclosed that the affected lawmakers have already served the leadership of the House of Representatives, Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal with notice of appeal to maintain status quo pending the outcome of the appeal.

The lawmaker said , “We want to assure members of the public that there is no court judgment before the House directing any member of the APC to vacate his or her seat”.

He continued, “A section of the media and indeed the public have been misled by the court ruling into believing that the said judgment has effectively terminated the tenure of office of the affected members. This is not only untrue, but also a mere obiter dicta expressed by a judge who veered off the course of the case before him in order to do the bidding of the ruling party. At best the judgment has turned law on its head and cannot stand”.

“For avoidance of doubt, let me state unequivocally on behalf of our members that the import of yesterday ruling was that our 37 members cannot participate in the removal of Principal Officers of the House nothing more, nothing less.    Every other pronouncement by the Judge as to the status of our 37 members of the House were mere opinion.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives and its principal officers have approached the Court of Appeal in Abuja asking it to set aside the verdict of Justice Ademola over the leadership change in the House.

The speaker, Aminu Tambuwal and deputy speaker, Emeka Ihedioha and the lawmakers are the appellant in the case.

In a notice of appeal filed in Abuja yesterday by their lawyer, Mahmud Magaji (SAN), the appellants faulted Justice Ademola’s reasoning and urged the appellate court to set aside the verdict.

 

Court Did Not Order 37 Lawmakers To Vacate Seats – APC

Meanwhile, the APC has said that Justice Ademola did not order the 37 members of the House who  defected to the APC to vacate their seats because he is not competent to issue such a ruling, as the issue of whether not they can defect was not before him.

In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday by its interim national  publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party however said it would appeal the ruling because Justice Ademola’s perpetual injunction restraining the concerned lawmakers from participating in motions and debates in the House is unconstitutional and defeats the very purpose for which the members were elected into the House.

It said Justice Ademola’s unsolicited comments were clearly gregarious, unnecessary, and superfluous and has no foundation in law or fact, hence should be ignored.

APC asked the Chief Justice of Nigeria to act urgently to sanction Justice Ademola for engaging in mischief that could bring the bench into disrepute.

‘’If this case had been issued a day later than Monday, we would have  said the Judge was caught in the web of April Fool! Alas, he indeed made the ruling on Monday, hence the need for us to take it very seriously for several reasons.


Source: Leadership

 

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