A Federal High Court, Abuja on Friday turned down the request by erstwhile Deputy Governor of Adamawa State, Bala Ngilari, to restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission from conducting the governorship bye-election in the state.

Justice Adeniyi Ademola ruling on Ngilari’s ex-parte motion, however, ordered that INEC be put on notice to defend the substantive suit.

The judge after listening to the plaintiff’s counsel, Mr. Festus Keyamo, who moved two ex-parte applications, granted his prayer for substituted service through publication in the national newspaper.

The judge also granted leave to the plaintiff to serve the court processes on the defendants outside Abuja.

He then fixed Tuesday for hearing of the motion on notice containing similar prayer of injunction.

Ngilari had on Wednesday filed the suit seeking among other prayers, an order compelling his swearing in as the governor of Adamawa State following the impeachment of Governor Murtala Nyako.

The former deputy governor who denied resigning from office urged the court to declare as nullity his letter of resignation dated July 14 and addressed to the Speaker of the Adamawa State House of Assembly.

In his suit, marked, FHC/ABJ/CS/545/14, the plaintiff argued that his resignation was in breach of the provisions of sections 306(1), (2) and (5) of the 1999 Constitution since it was addressed to the Speaker and not the governor as “strictly” provided for in the Constitution.

According to his lawyer, the constitution provides that a Deputy Governor who intends to resign from office is “strictly” required by the provisions of the constitution to send his resignation letter to the governor and not the Speaker of the House of Assembly as his client did.

The defendants in the suit are the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, the House itself, Ahmadu Fintiri, who was sued as an individual and as the Acting Governor of the state, Nyako and the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The plaintiff is asking the court to nullify the declaration of his office vacant on the account of his resignation letter dated July 14 and also the subsequent swearing in of Fintiri as the acting governor on July 15.

He is also seeking an injunction restraining the INEC from conducting election for the office of the governor of the state.

He argued that based on his alleged illegal resignation he was the one who ought to have been rightfully sworn in as governor after Nyako was removed.

Ngilari stated in a supporting affidavit, that “I did not submit any letter of resignation to the 5th defendant (governor) or any other person other than the 1st defendant (the Speaker).

“I only submitted a purported letter of resignation (exhibit A), to the 1st defendant but I never intended to comply with the strict provisions of sections 306 (1), (2) & (5) of the 1999 Constitution by submitting it to the 5th defendant (the Governor).

“I never intended exhibit A (the letter) to be any subject of debate or resolution by the 2nd defendant (House of Assembly), but a private correspondence between myself and the 1st defendant, hence it was marked ‘secret’.

“That exhibit A was only submitted to the 1st defendant with the intention of discussing the contents with him privately at a more convenient time to alert him at a possible action I may take at a later date because of certain political developments in Adamawa State, hence I did not submit it to the 5th defendant (as Governor of Adamawa State) as strictly stipulated by section 306(1), (2) & (5) of the 1999 Constitution.

“That I was therefore shocked to see that my letter was read and acted upon by the entire members of the 2nd defendant when it was never addressed to them.”

The plaintiff’s prayers read in part, “An order of this Honorable Court directing the Chief Judge of Adamawa State (or Acting Chief Judge, as the case may be) or the President of the Customary Court of Appeal to swear in Barr. Bala James Nggilari (the Plaintiff) as the substantive Governor of Adamawa State.”



http://www.punchng.com/news/court-rejects-ngilaris-request-to-halt-adamawa-gov-election/

You cannot outsmart the clueless one.

Anyone running d ministry of Judas will always lose like Judas, yeye traitor.