Skip to main content

INEC: Melaye Evading Service of Recall Petition


The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has concluded plans to file an application for substituted service after the senator representing Kogi West senatorial district, Dino Melaye, refused to collect the petition filed against him by people in his senatorial district who wanted him recalled.

Sources at the Federal High Court said the baliff who went with INEC staff to serve Melaye through his lawyer, Mike Ozekhome & Co, were told that the chamber was no longer representing the senator.

“They told us to go and serve the letter and the documents on the senator personally,” the source said.
Following the refusal of the chambers to accept the documents, the commission proceeded to the National Assembly to effect service on Melaye but found his office locked.

The team also went to his house with a bailiff to serve him but the gate man said he had instructions not to receive anything from anyone.

Frustrated, the commission instructed the legal team to file an application for substituted service today (Friday) at the Federal High Court.

After dismissing Melaye’s application to stop INEC from proceeding with the petition for his recall, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba ordered INEC to serve him again with the petition and the schedule of signatures and the list of petitioners.

He held that the suit was hasty and premature since Melaye failed to exhaust all internal mechanism provided by the 1999 Constitution before rushing to court.

The commission, in compliance with the court order took the documents packed in three bags, popularly called ‘Ghana must go’ bags to Melaye’s lawyer chambers, his office and his home but was still unable to serve him.

When asked to confirm if the senator was evading service, a staff of the commission, not authorised to speak on the issue said: “Yes. We are surprised that the chambers of Ozhekome which claimed to have filed an appeal against the judgment of the high court would claim it has ceased to represent the senator. We have no choice other than to apply to court for substituted service. We are doing that tomorrow.”

Melaye filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal, Abuja, to stop INEC from going further with the process of his recall from the National Assembly.

The Federal High Court had on September 11, 2017, in a judgment delivered by Justice Dimgba gave INEC the permission to go ahead with the recall.

Justice Dimgba gave the go-ahead after dismissing Melaye’s suit that sought to to stop his recall by INEC following a petition it said it received from the people of Kogi West senatorial district, whom Melaye represents at the upper chamber of the National Assembly.

However, in a notice of appeal dated September 13, 2017 and filed same day by his counsel, Ozekhome, the appellant asked the appellate court for an order of perpetual injunction restraining the first defendant/respondent or any of its agents from commencing or further continuing with the process or acting on the purported petition presented to it by the purported constituents of the plaintiff.

Melaye, who has expressed dissatisfaction with the judgment of Justice Dimgba, is asking the Court of Appeal to set aside the decision of the lower court on grounds that the court erred in law in taking the decision to allow INEC proceed with the recall process.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The story of how Nigeria’s census figures became weaponized - Feyi Fawehinmi

By Feyi Fawehinmi The story of Nigeria’s 1962 census never gets old. Southern politicians seeking to end the north’s dominance of Nigerian politics decided that the only way to do it was through the census. Population figures at the time determined not only parliamentary representation but also revenue allocation and employee distribution in the civil service. In May 1962, the first census under an independent Nigerian government began. There had been a frenzy of mobilization by politicians in the south of the country using pamphlets, radio, schools, churches and mosques. Although the final results were not made public, the preliminary results were quite clear as to what had happened: the north’s population had gone up from 16.5 million in the last census in 1952 to 22.5 million, an increase of 30%. But in some parts of the east, the population had increased by up to 200% and more than 70% in general. The west also reported an increase of 70%. What the preliminary results showed...
Post a Comment
Read more

Boko Haram’s campaign against education and enlightenment - By Landry Signe

Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Boko Haram, the Islamist terrorist group originating from Nigeria is frightened by this enlightening power of education. Unsurprisingly, on Monday, February 19, the group, whose name often translates to “Western education is a sin,” stormed a girls’ school in the village of Dapchi in northern Nigeria to abduct students. Of the 907 schoolgirls who were in the school the day of the attack, more than 100 are still missing as of Sunday. Since it became violent about a decade ago, Boko Haram’s actions, through these and other types of bloody attacks, have resulted in horrifying consequences. Human Rights Watch estimates that Boko Haram has left at least 7 million in need of humanitarian assistance, 2.1 million displaced, and 20,000 civilians dead. Local leaders claim the number is significantly higher. Despite such causalities, it took Boko Haram’s massive kidnapping of 276 sch...
Post a Comment
Read more

Concerns grow over Alexis Sanchez and Paul Pogba's mental state at Manchester United

Telegraph UK Jose Mourinho is facing a serious battle to revitalise his star signings Alexis Sanchez and Paul Pogba amid growing concerns about their state of mind at Manchester United as Zlatan Ibrahimovic quit the club to join Los Angeles Galaxy in the United States. Sanchez has admitted his struggles at Old Trafford in the wake of his January move from Arsenal have left him “emotionally and psychologically exhausted”. And Pogba has appeared relieved to join up with the French squad this week and escape his current club woes under Mourinho, with France coach Didier Deschamps admitting the midfielder’s problems at United were “complicated” following heart-to-heart talks between the pair. Concerns over Sanchez and Pogba came as Mourinho launched yet another defence of his reign at United and brand of football and LA Galaxy prepared to announce on Friday that Ibrahimovic has signed a two-year deal to join the Major League Soccer outfit after his short spell at Old Trafford w...
Post a Comment
Read more