Justice John Tsoho of a Federal High Court in Abuja, has
fixed April 28 to hear the suite filed by the erstwhile chairman of the House
of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Hon. Jibrin Abdulmumin, to
challenge his continued suspension from the House.
This is as Jibrin declined to join the Chairman of House
Committee on Ethics, Hon. Nicholas Ossai and the lawmaker that moved the motion
that led to the his suspension, Hon. Orker-Jev Emmanuel, as parties in the
suit.
The two lawmakers had in a joint application they filed
before the court, sought to be allowed to file processes against the suit.
Jubrin, in his suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/Bl2/2015, listed the
Speaker of the House of Reps, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, the House of Reps itself and
its clerk, as the 1st to 3rd defendants.
But before commencement on the matter, both Ossai and Emmanuel
approached the court, seeking to be joined as co-defendants in the matter.
They prayed the court to order Jibrin to amend the
originating summons to include their names, saying their conduct as House of
Reps member had been impugned and called into question in the suit.
“The applicants have the constitutional right to be heard in
this suit because of the allegations made against them by the plaintiff.
“The applicants interests as members of the House of
Representatives and the interests of their constituents will be affected by the
outcome of the present proceedings if the allegations made by the plaintiff are
not challenged by the applicants”, they argued.
In his ruling, Justice Tsoho held that the matter could be
effectively determined without participation of the applicants.
