Defection: Judge Not Competent To Give Opinion -APC Caucus

The caucus of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the House of Representatives said yesterday that Justice Adeniyi  Ademola was not competent to give his opinion on the defection of 37 members of the National Assembly.
Ademola of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Monday asked the 37 former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) legislators to resign their seats for defecting to the opposition APC.
The Minority Whip, Rep. Samson Osagie, who briefed newsmen in Abuja yesterday, said the matter before the court was that of removal of principal officers of the assembly.
“The import of Monday’s ruling was that our 37 members cannot participate in the removal of principal officers of the House, nothing more, nothing less.
“Other pronouncements by the judge as to the status of the 37 members of the House were mere opinion.
“This judgment was given in vain and in ignorance of the House Rules which govern the appointment of party leaders in the parliament.
“It is also an attempt by the court to meddle in the internal affairs of the parliament; this certainly is not the import of the doctrine of judicial review in administrative law.
“As we speak, our colleagues have appealed against this vexatious ruling and we have the notice of our appeal this afternoon.
“The notice of appeal has been served on the House and it is before the Court of Appeal,” Osagie said.
The minority whip described the ruling by the judge as ‘misleading’, adding that there was a need for the caucus to put the matter in its proper perspective.
He said that the party was not surprised as the judge had earlier issued a preservative order when his jurisdiction to handle the case was raised.
“Our fears were further confirmed when the judge after granting the relief sought in the suit, went ahead to render an opinion on issues that were not before him nor solicited by the plaintiffs,” he said.
Osagie explained that there was no court judgment before the House asking members who defected to the APC to vacate their seats.
In an interview, Rep. Razak Bello-Osagie (APC-Edo) said that when a judge begins to give his opinion on a matter not solicited for by the plaintiffs, he leaves much room for questioning.
The 37 former PDP legislators defected to the APC on December 18, 2013.

Chairman, National Conference, Justice Idris Kutugi (right) and the Vice, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, during proceedings at the National Conference in Abuja, last Monday