A suit filed by the 79 lawmakers who defected from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) to restrain the PDP National Chairman, Senate President, House of Reps Speaker, the PDP and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from declaring their senatorial seats vacant has been struck out.
Justice Ahmed Mohammed, the case’s presiding judge, gave the ruling in Abuja on Friday while describing the suit as a mere “academic exercise” in which the court would not give a verdict.
“This suit is an academic exercise,” Mohammed said. “It has no life of its own, so there is no adjudication and is, hereby, struck out.’’
The Judge pointed to a suit earlier filed by PDP to declare the seats of Senator Abdullahi Adamu and 78 other lawmakers vacant as one of the reasons why he ruled that the court would not sit in judgment on the matter.
“In the final analysis, the lawmakers’ suit is based on the threat of declaring their seats vacant, and the PDP has submitted itself to the court pursuant to Section 68 (2) of the 1999 Constitution,” he said. “PDP cannot declare their seats vacant, having submitted itself in other pending suits seeking to compel the Senate President and Speaker, House of Reps to declare the seats vacant.”
On the prayer of Joe Gadzama, SAN ― counsel to the respondents― that the plaintiffs lack merit and locus standi to initiate the case, Mohammed struck out another application by the lawmakers seeking to quash the proceedings. The judge berated the plaintiffs’ for poor timing as the case was already due for judgment before they made the move.
“I cannot find any reason why the application was not brought before the matter was reserved for judgment,” he said. “In the final analysis, I find no merit in the application and, hereby, dismiss it,’’ Mohammed ruled.
