A High Court sitting in Koton-Karfe, Kogi State, on Friday, adjourned sine die, a suit instituted by the state Judiciary against the Executive over alleged attempts to illegally remove the state Chief Judge (CJ), Justice Nasir Ajanah.
The court also reserved ruling in the Motion NO. HC/KK02M/201 seeking nullification of the April 2, Resolution of the House of Assembly recommending removal of the Chief Judge.
Justice Alaba Omolaye-Ajileye, the presiding High Court judge, disclosed this in Koton-Karfe after a botched sitting in the Suit NO. HC/KK/11CV/2018 instituted by the Chief Judge and Chief Registrar, Alhaji Yahaya Adamu.
The court resumed sitting on Friday with lead counsel to parties in the suit adopting their written addresses on the motion.
The claimants/applicants in the motion had prayed for an order of the court nullifying and setting aside the resolution purportedly passed by the House at its plenary sitting of 2nd April, 2019 in defiance of the pendency of the suit.
The action of the Legislative Arm, according to the motion, also defied the interim injunctive Orders of Court by acting upon a report submitted to it by its Public Accounts Committee and resolving
R.A. Lawal-Rabana, SAN, Abeni Mohammed, SAN, A.M.Aliyu, SAN, Tawo E. Tawo, SAN, and and three other lawyers represented the claimants/applicants.
One of the Senior Advocates, Mohammed said that the motion was brought pursuant to Order 11, Rules 1 and 2 of Kogi State High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2006.
The motion has Kogi State House of Assembly; Speaker of the House;
Hon. Bello Hassan Abdullahi, chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee; The Governor of Kogi State and the Attorney-General of Kogi State as defendants/respondents.
Adopting their written address, Mohammed said, “We rely on the 16-paragraph affidavit supporting the motion and the exhibits “A to G”. and urge the court to grant the prayers in particular, Exhibit A and B (the injunctive orders of the court).
Sale Sule, leading one other counsel, Yusuf Goodluck for the defendants/respondents, said he had filed a counter affidavit with an eight-paragraph affidavit, adding that they relied on the averments.
Justice Omolaye-Ajileye, after adoption of the addresses by the counsel, went on a two-hour stand down to deliver his ruling on the motion.
The jurist, after a few minutes into the two-hour stand down, called counsel to the parties into his office to intimate them on the security situation as a result of sudden withdrawal of police personnel from the court.
He said that the security situation with the sudden withdrawal of police officers and men from the court and the intelligence reports reaching him, it was not safe for the court to continue sitting.
Omolaye-Ajileye, therefore, adjourned the case sine die but, however, told the counsel that they would be notified once the court fixed a date for ruling on the motion.
