The Supreme Court on Monday invited President Muhammadu
Buhari to appear before it on Thursday, May 19 for a hearing in a suit he
instituted against the National Assembly challenging Section 84 (12) of the
2022 Electoral Act.
Also invited to be in court on the same day are the National
Assembly and its leadership to defend various constitutional breaches raised
against them by the Presidency.
A hearing notice issued by the apex court and sighted by our
correspondent indicated that the invitation of President Buhari was served on
him through his private lawyer, Prince Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi.
By implications, Fagbemi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria SAN,
is to profer arguments against the National Assembly on the invalidity and
unconstitutionality of Section 84 (12) of the new Electoral Act.
At the time of this report, the legal practitioner that will stand for the National Assembly to justify the
inclusion of the contentious section in the new Electoral Act could not be ascertained
The suit filed on April 29 is marked; SC/ CV/ 504/2022 and
has President Muhammadu Buhari and the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF,
Abubakar Malami SAN as plaintiffs while the National Assembly is the sole
respondent.
Our correspondent gathered that the Supreme Court took
notice of the affidavit of urgency in support of the originating summons filed
by Buhari, hence, the resolution to give it a speedy hearing.
Besides, the fates of political appointees are said to be hanging
in the balance and unless the apex court quickly makes pronouncements on the
effect of the Electoral Act on them, their individual political ambitions may
be jeopardized.
It was gathered that upon receipt of the hearing notice
through its Legal Department, the leadership of the National Assembly has
contacted a legal giant, Adegboyega Awomolo SAN to lead its defence in the suit
but details could not be obtained.
Our correspondent also learnt that the Chief Justice of
Nigeria (CJN) Dr Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad has put in place, a seven-man panel of
justices of the Court to do justice to the constitutional issues from both
sides of the two parties.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com