There was a mild drama on Monday as the leader of the suspended members of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dino Melaye, went to the National Assembly to enforce Thursday’s judgment by an Abuja Federal High Court.
The court had voided the June 23 suspension of 11 lawmakers on the grounds that it was illegal, having failed to follow the rules of the House.
Melaye, who arrived at the National Assembly about 12.29pm, went straight to his office, Room 0.40, located on the Ground Floor of the House of Representatives Wing (New Building).
On arrival, he learnt that his office had been re-allocated to a fellow lawmaker from Kogi State, Mr. Buba Jubril.
Jubril, who is the Chairman of the House Committee on Capital Market and other Institutions, was not in the office when Melaye arrived.
Melaye served an aide to Jubril with a copy of the judgment.
Findings indicated that he simply told the aide to pass the document over to his boss, adding that he would resume formally on Tuesday (today).
The aide was said to have told the lawmaker that he was addressing the wrong person, as he (Melaye) ought to have gone to the leadership of the House to serve the document or complain about the re-allocation of his office.
Melaye was reported to have hurriedly left the office, the same manner he came, declining to speak with journalists who approached him for comments.
When our correspondent contacted the spokesman of the House, Mr. Eseme Eyiboh, he claimed that the leadership had already appealed against the judgment.
According to Eyiboh, the House had instructed its lawyer, Mr. Wole Olanikpekun, (SAN), to file a notice of appeal against the judgment.
“We have filed an appeal; we also asked him to file for a stay of execution. He did all that on Thursday.”
Eyiboh had told a news conference on Thursday that the House was yet to be served with a copy of the judgment, adding that whenever the House was served, it would study the document before deciding whether to appeal against it or not.
Investigations showed that the Speaker, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, and the Clerk to the House, Mr. Sani Omolori, were served with the judgment on Friday, December 3.
Eleven members of the group, ‘Progressive-Minded Legislators’, had been suspended after their bid to hold the leadership of the House accountable, degenerated to a free-for-all on the floor of the legislature.
The group, which was led by Melaye, had accused the Speaker, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, of allegedly misusing N9bn out of the capital vote of the House.
They were later suspended for alleged “disorderly conduct.”
Seven of them, Melaye, Independence Ogunewe, Anas Adamu, Solomon Awhinawhin, Austin Nwachukwu, Doris Uboh and Bitrus Kase, had gone to court to challenge their suspension on the grounds that it was illegal.
Nwachukwu later withdrew from the suit, claiming that he had been advised by his constituency to do so.
Four others, Kayode Amusan, Mr. Gbenga Oduwaiye, Gbenga Onigbogi and Ehiogie West-Idahosa, did not go to court.
Onigbogi, West-Idahosa have since been pardoned and re-admitted by the House after they petitioned the House Committee on Ethics and Privileges to argue that they did not fight on the fateful day.
Oduwaiye, Amusan and Nwachukwu have also approached the committee to seek for a review of their case.
The House had earlier asked all those who went to court to withdraw their suit and tender an apology to their colleagues, a condition that could grant them pardon.
The six, who have remained adamant, saw their suit through till judgment was delivered in their favour on Thursday.
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