Another APC chieftain drags National Assembly to court

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Anike Nwoga has dragged the National Assembly to a Federal High Court sitting in Enugu.

He sued the legislature for amending the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC’s) 2019 election sequence, which will cause a change in the election timetable.

Nwoga is the second APC member in the last one month that will be heading to court over issues relating to the 2019 elections.

A member of the party in Imo State, Mr Okere Uzochukwu had also recently sued APC in a suit he filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja, challenging the extension of tenure of the party’s chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun and other officials of the party.

INEC had in its timetable on the sequence of the coming election, stated that presidential and National Assembly elections will come first, followed by governorship and state assembly elections.

However, apparently not pleased with the arrangement, the federal lawmakers amended the timetable to have the National Assembly election first, followed by the governorship and state Houses of Assembly, while the presidential election comes last.

But the APC chieftain, who is zonal vice chairman of the Enugu State chapter of the party, in his suit dated March 2, 2018 and filed through his lawyer, Godwin Onwusi, is urging the Enugu court for an interlocutory injunction stopping President Muhammadu Buhari from assenting to the amended timetable as contained in a bill passed by the National Assembly.

The plaintiff, in the motion on notice brought pursuant to orders 26 and 28 of the FHC (Civil Procedure) Rules 2009, is asking the court to restrain the President from assenting to the bill anytime it is brought to him for assent, pending the determination of the substantive suit.

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He is equally praying the court for an interlocutory injunction restraining the National Assembly from overriding the President’s veto, should he decide to veto the bill, when transmitted to him, pending the determination of the substantive suit.

Among other things, the plaintiff is also asking the court to restrain INEC from complying with the sequence of elections contained in the bill passed by the National Assembly; to determine whether the National Assembly, in exercise of its lawmaking powers, can make laws to compel INEC to exercise the powers to organise, undertake and supervise elections conferred on it by the constitution in a particular sequence.

He also wants the court to determine whether the National Assembly can make a law to change the sequence of elections, already adopted and published by INEC, pursuant to the powers conferred on it by the constitution.

 

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