President Muhammadu Buhari and the Attorney General of the
Federation, Abubakar Malami, have reacted to an application seeking the
removal of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission acting chairman,
Ibrahim Magu.
Mr. Magu’s appointment as acting EFCC chairman, despite his repeated
rejection by the Nigerian Senate, has constituted the basis for several
applications pending in court.
One of the motions, brought in March by two lawyers, Ahmed Yusuf and
Peter Asa, asked the court to remove Mr. Magu as the EFCC chairman and
restrain the presidency from “being able to forward his name a third
time to the Senate.”
According to the motion, the lawyers who described themselves as
concerned Nigerians submitted that the decision of the executive to
allow Mr. Magu remain in office, despite his rejection amounted to ”an
attempt by the Presidency to force Mr. Magu on the Senate.”
Reacting to the application, the counsel to Messrs. Buhari and Malami
questioned the authenticity of the motion and asked the court to
dismiss it for lacking in merit.
The objection, published by the Punch Newspapers, Monday, was signed
by the Solicitor-General of the Federation, Dayo Apata, Tijani Gazali
and a team of lawyers.
They argued that the applicants have no locus standi to bring the motion, in the first place.
“We humbly submit that a perusal of all the processes in the court’s
file will reveal that the plaintiffs instituted the action wrongly as
they do not possess the locus standi to institute same. The plaintiffs
do not have sufficient interest in the determination of this matter. The
plaintiffs’ civil rights were not breached by the defendants. The
plaintiffs did not meet the necessary pre-condition to filing this
suit,” the objection noted.
According to the preliminary objection, Messrs Buhari and Malami also
argued that the motion did not conform to the rules of court and should
therefore not be entertained by the court for want of jurisdiction.
“The plaintiffs have also failed to follow the due process of law in
filing this suit and have not brought this action by way of Judicial
Review contrary to Order 34 of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure)
Rules. This honourable court has therefore been deprived of the
jurisdiction to hear and determine this suit. And if it is, your
lordship has the power to, among other things, strike out this matter in
its entirety. We urge your lordship to strike out this matter for want
of jurisdiction.
“This honourable court cannot invoke its judicial powers under
Section 6(6) (b) (of the Constitution) to hear and determine this case,”
counsel to both parties said.
They also argued that the Senate whose actions resulted in the
application was a legal entity, vested with the powers to sue and to be
sued. Consequently, the preliminary objection challenged the authority
of the applicants, to file the motion on behalf of the Senate.
“The plaintiffs claim to be concerned Nigerian citizens and legal
practitioners, thus imparted upon themselves the right to institute this
suit, notwithstanding the fact that the National Assembly (particularly
the Senate) is a legal person capable of suing and being sued. The
Plaintiffs did not depose to the fact that they were instructed by the
Senate or the Senate President to institute this suit.
“The plaintiffs are seeking inter alia an order restraining the 4th
defendant from re-nominating or representing the name of the 1st
defendant (Magu) to the Senate for appointment as the chairman of the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.”
Mr. Magu has consistently defended allegations of official
impropriety levelled against him by the Senate, who are relying on an
indicting report issued on the EFCC head by the State Security Services,
SSS.
An attempt by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo to defend Mr. Magu’s
candidature a few months earlier had drawn the ire of the lawmakers, who
hit back by refusing to consider nominations sent to them by the
presidency for a while.
The lawmakers have vowed not to receive any request to confirm Mr. Magu anymore.