ABUJA – The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on Monday, sought leave of the Federal High Court in Abuja to serve Senator Dino Melaye a copy of the petition seeking his recall, through substituted means.
Sen. Dino Melaye
The electoral body said it had since September 11 when the court, in a judgment that was delivered by Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, directed it to furish the embattled lawmaker with the petition, been unable to reach him.
Justice Dimgba who declined to stop the recall process as he was prayed to do by Melaye, gave INEC the nod to verify signatures of 188,588 registered voters from Kogi West that purportedly signed the petition.
Meanwhile, frustrated by its inability to reach the embattled lawmaker to serve both the petition and other accompanying documents, INEC, filed an ex-parte motion to be allowed to dump the documents in front of Melaye’s office at the National Assembly.
INEC lawyer, Mr. Olawale Ibrahim, told the judge that all attempts to serve the senator personally, proved abortive.
However, a lawyer from the law firm of CHief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, Mr. Nkem Okoro, told the court that their client, Melaye, traveled out of the country, saying he would return between September 25 and 26 when the National Assembly would resume from its recess.
Besides, Okoro drew attention of the court to abort motion by his client,the stay of execution of the September 11 judgement.
He equally challenged jurisdiction of the court to entertain the INEC’s ex-parte motion.
After he had listened to the parties, Justice Dimgba asked INEC to make one more attempt at personal service on Melaye or through his counsel.
Justice Dimgba said he would hear the ex-parte motion if INEC still could not effect personal service on Melaye again.
The case was subsequently adjourned till September 28 for report of service and/or hearing of the ex-parte and all pending applications in the unlikely event that personal service still fails.
Melaye had since asked the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal to set-aside the high court judgment that allowed INEC to proceed with process for his recall from the Senate.