Court voids House summons on Diezani, halts probe

A Federal High Court in Abuja has set aside the
summons of the House of Representatives on the Minister
of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke,
over a proposed probe of her alleged waste of public funds
of chartered jet for unofficial purposes.
Justice Ahmed Mohammed on Wednesday voided the
summons in a judgment in the suit filed by the minister, her
ministry and the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation to challenge the validity of the House’s
invitation.
The minster allegedly spent about N10bn of public fund on
charter and maintenance of an 850 Challenger jet for
unofficial purposes.
This informed why the House Committee on Public
Accounts had through letters dated March 26, 2014,
summoned her and the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation to appear before it for the purposes of
investigating the allegations.
The judge in his judgment held that that the summons was
invalid as there was no evidence before the court to show
that the House resolution from which the summons
emanated was published in the journal of the Natational
Assembly or the official gazette of the Federal
Government of Nigeria.
He held that though the National Assembly had the power
to invite any public officer for the purpose of investigating
their activities, failure to publish the resolution as required
under Section 88 of the Constitution had rendered the
summons invalid.
…more details later.