An Adamawa State High Court sitting in Yola on Thursday restrained the state House of Assembly from serving impeachment notice on Governor Murtala Nyako and and his deputy, Bala Ngilari.
The court, presided by the acting Chief Judge of the state, Justice Ambrose Mamadi, also stopped the legislators from proceeding with the impeachment process against Nyako pending the determination of a motion on notice.
Nyako’s counsel, Jerry Owen, had filed a motion ex-parte on behalf of the governor, asking the court to stop the three respondents and their agents from going ahead with the impeachment moves.
In another ruling on a matter brought by the All Progressives Congress (APC), the court restrained all defected members of the party from participating in the activities of the assembly.
The party averred that three of the defendants who were members of the APC, had defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) without notifying the party that sponsored them to the assembly.
The assembly has been trying to serve impeachment notices on Nyako and Ngilari.
The assembly, currently on two weeks recess, met on Monday at a special session to adopt the rules and proceedings of the June 18, where the it directed its clerk, to serve the governor and his deputy, with the notices of financial misconduct through two national dailies.
The session was presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Kwamoti La’ori, even as the speaker, majority leader, and other principal officers were absent.
At the plenary session, the member, representing Hong Constituency, Wafama Amfari, raised an issue of constitutional matter to the effect that the decision of the assembly to serve the governor and his deputy, were purely for their alleged gross misconduct.
There and then, the deputy speaker invited the clerk of the assembly to come forward and furnish members with the resolution of the assembly on the June 18, which directed him to serve the governor and his deputy with the impeachment notice.
When the clerk, Francis Gansenso, emerged, he told the lawmakers that he could not serve the governor and his deputy owing to the fact that they could not be located.
The clerk told the assembly that he had visited the offices of the governor and his deputy several times, but without positive results.
Justice Mamadi had a few days ago dismissed an application by the assembly to serve Nyako and his deputy the impeachment notice, through the media.
In the suit, the assembly prayed the court to grant its application in the face that the governor and his deputy cannot be seen personally for them to receive the impeachment notice.
In his ruling, the judge ruled that “in view of holding of the Supreme Court judgment in case of Inikojo and Adeleke to which I am bound, I refused to excise my discretion to grant the application sought by the House of Assembly.”
Justice Mamadi further said: “I resolved the issue for determination in the negative, I refused the application, it is accordingly dismissed.
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