Impeachment:Court to rule on ex-Ondo deputy gov suit

A Federal High Court in Lagos has slated August 13, 2015 for judgment in a fundamental rights enforcement suit, filed by former Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Alhaji Ali Olanusi, to challenge his impeachment.

Olanusi, who was impeached on April 27, 2015, had sued the IG and the chairman of the seven-man investigative panel which found him guilty of impeachable offences, Mr. Olatunji Adeniyan.

Justice Mohammed Idris adjourned for judgment on Monday after taking arguments from the parties.

Olanusi was represented by his lawyer, Mr. Olukoya Ogungbeje, while the Attorney General of Ondo State, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede (SAN), represented Adeniyan, who was sued as the first respondent.

In his suit, which was transferred from the Akure Division of the Federal High Court to the Lagos Division, so that it could be urgently heard, Olanusi is contending that the Adeniyan-led panel breached his fundamental right to fair hearing.

His lawyer, Ogungbeje, claimed that “the sitting, conclusion of proceedings and submission of report by the panel within one day” denied Olanusi his right to fair hearing as enshrined in Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution.

Olanusi claimed that the impeachment panel did not give him adequate time and facility to defend himself against the allegations of misconduct which he was found guilty of.

He also alleged that the Adeniyan-led panel failed to personally serve him with the notice of the allegation of misconduct before proceeding into hearing and reaching its verdict.

He therefore sought an order quashing the proceedings and the report of the Adeniyan-led seven-man impeachment panel which recommended him for impeachment.

He also sought an order nullifying his removal as the Ondo State Deputy Governor by the state House of Assembly on April 27, 2015.

But in a preliminary objection brought before Justice Idris on Monday through Jegede, Adeniyan urged the court to discountenance Olanusi and strike out his suit.

Jegede, who described Olanusi’s suit as an abuse of court processes, said the ex-deputy governor goofed by approaching the court through a fundamental right enforcement application to challenge his impeachment.

Pointing out that Olanusi’s application was not filed in compliance with Order X Rule 1 of the fundamental rights enforcement procedure 2009, Jegede said the suit was defective and urged the court to strike it out.

Besides, the Attorney General also challenged the jurisdiction of the court to hear the case, arguing that the subject matter was not one over which the Federal High Court could assume jurisdiction.

Jegede went on to also challenge the joining of the Inspector General of Police as a respondent in the suit, saying the IG played no role in Olanusi’s impeachment to warrant his being sued, adding that his joining was a mere ploy to make the suit appear like a fundamental right enforcement action.

“In the case at hand, the Inspector General of Police is neither the principal respondent nor the only respondent. None of the reliefs set out in the originating process is against the Inspector General of Police; the Inspector General of Police did not play any role in the removal of the applicant, neither did he sit as a member of the seven-member panel.

“It is clear that the applicant merely joined the Inspector General of Police as a subterfuge to justify bringing this application before this court in an obvious situation of lack of jurisdiction. The mere making the Inspector General of Police a respondent against all grains cannot salvage the situation,” jegede argued.