The absence of Justice Gabriel Kolawole of
the Federal High Court, Abuja, stalled yesterday the scheduled hearing in the
suit by suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi
Lamido Sanusi.
Justice Kolawole on February 24 refused an
ex-parte application by Sanusi, but ordered that the defendants be put on
notice. He adjourned till yesterday.
Yesterday, lawyers in the suit were told by
an official of the court that Justice Kolawole was attending a seminar. Parties
later agreed to return on March 19.
Sanusi had, by the ex-parte application,
sought to reverse his suspension by President Goodluck Jonathan, pending the
determination of an interlocutory motion he filed along with the substantive
suit he initiated, challenging the suspension.
He accompanied the ex-parte application with
documents, including a letter dated February 19, 2014 addressed to the
plaintiff by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation,
titled:”Suspension from office.”
Justice Kolawole, while refusing the
application, held that he felt hesitant and constrained to grant the reliefs
sought.
On Sanusi’s apprehension that a delay would
occasion harm to his interest, the judge noted that the court possesses the
powers to declare the suspension unlawful and order his return to office, if at
the end of trial, it finds that the suspension was wrong.
He added that even where the tenure had
lapsed, the court could order the defendants to pay the plaintiff such
remunerations and allowances, if his remuneration and allowances were also
suspended while his suspension lasted.
The judge held that it was unsafe, at the
current preliminary stage of the case, for the court to embark on granting
far-reaching interim orders which have all the attributes of a mandatory
injunction without hearing from the defendants
Justice Kolawole noted that when defendants
are served with all necessary processes, he intends to inquire whether, in the
light of the Third Alteration Act, No: 20 of the Constitution, the Federal High
Court has the jurisdiction to hear the case, irrespective of the questions for
determination contained in the originating summons.
Named as defendants in the suit are President
Jonathan, the Attorney General of the Federation and the Inspector General of
Police.
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