Hearing in a suit seeking to stop the infectious diseases
control bill was on Wednesday stalled due to failure to serve Femi
Gbajabiamila, speaker of the house of representatives, with necessary court
processes.
Dino Melaye, former senator representing Kogi west, had
filed the suit against Gbajabiamila, and four others seeking for the protection
of his fundamental rights over the bill.
According to Melaye, the bill threatens “the dignity of
person, personal liberty, right to private and family life, right to freedom of
movement and right to own immovable property in Nigeria”.
Other respondents in the suit are the clerk of the national
assembly, the clerk of the house of representatives, Abubakar Malami, attorney
general of the federation, and Mohammed Adamu, inspector general of police.
Instead, the judge summoned all respondents in the suit to
make appearances on Wednesday so as to give reasons why the bill should not be
stopped as requested by the plaintiff.
When the case was called on Wednesday, Nkem Okoro, counsel
to Melaye, urged the court to order parties to maintain status quo on grounds
that the respondents had failed to file their responses.
Kayode Ajulo, counsel to Gbajabiamila, told the court that
his client is yet to be served with court processes.
Clerks of the national assembly and the house of
representatives as well as the AGF were absent and their lawyers did not
represent them.
Delivering his ruling, the judge refused to grant the
plaintiff’s prayers on grounds that service of court documents had not been
effected on all the respondents.
She ordered that the speaker be served through his lawyer,
Ajulo.
The matter has been adjourned to June 1 for hearing.
The provisions of the new bill seeks to repeal the
quarantine act of 1926 and provide new regulations that would enable Nigeria to
manage situations like the coronavirus pandemic.
The proposed legislation, which has passed second reading,
was sponsored by Gbajabiamila and two other lawmakers: Pascal Obi and Tanko
Sununu.
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