Court adjourns Tambuwal’s suit indefinitely

A Federal High Court in Abuja has adjourned indefinitely a suit filed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives Speaker, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, challenging planned moves to declare his seat vacant.

 

Tambuwal had also filed the suit seeking an order compelling the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Suleiman Abba, and other security agencies to restore his security aides withdrawn from him after he defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.

 

Justice Ahmed Mohammed adjourned the suit indefinitely upon requests for stay of proceedings by some parties who had gone to the Court of Appeal to challenge a previous ruling of the court in the suit.

 

The court had by its ruling being challenged at the appellate court disallowed the parties who are representing the people of Kebbe/Tambuwal Federal Constituency of Sokoto State, from joining the suit as co-defendants.

 

The two sets of applicants claimed to have shown interest in the suit on behalf of the people of Kebbe/Tambuwal Federal Constituency being represented by the Speaker at the House of Representatives.  

 

One of the sets of applicants are Chairmen of Kebbe and Tambuwal Local Governments in Sokoto State – Bala Konkani and Sambo Modo –  and the other comprises three members of the Sokoto State House of Assembly – Abdussamad Dasuki, Suleiman Hantsi, and Shuaibu Umar,  representing Tambuwal East, Tambuwal West and Kebbe constituencies.

 

On November 28, Israel Olorundare (SAN) for the local government chairmen and Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN) for the state legislators argued their respective   motions for joining the suit.

 

Justice Mohammed, in a ruling on December 1, refused the applications on the grounds that the interest they sought to protect had been effectively protected by the plaintiff himself.

 

He had also rejected the applications for joining the suit as co-defendants on the grounds that their interest to support the case of the plaintiff was in conflict with that of the already existing defendants in the suit.