The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja will next week deliver its ruling in a matter seeking to stop President Muhammadu Buhari from inaugurating the 43 ministerial nominees over the exclusion of a Federal Capital Territory indigene from his cabinet list.
A native of the FCT, Mr. Musa Baba-Panya, who is also the plaintiff’s lawyer, had, on Thursday, approached the presiding judge, Justice Taiwo Taiwo with an ex-parte application, urging the court to stop the President Buhari from going ahead with the inauguration.
In suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/878/19, Baba-Panya, who hails from Karu in the FCT, said Buhari’s nomination of people from all states of the country except the FCT, was contrary to an Appeal Court judgment delivered on March 15, 2018.
The defendants in the suit include: President Buhari (1st defendant) while the Attorney General of the Federation is the 2nd defendant.It would be recalled Buhari had slated August 21, next Tuesday for the swearing-in ceremony of the ministers-designate in Abuja.
Baba-Panya, who argued that the Appeal Court’s ruling was a compelling order, said it was served on the president through the AGF.
The lawyer, in an originating summons dated August 7 and filed August 8, said that ”the 43 confirmed ministerial appointees now awaiting swearing-in or inauguration as the Federal Executive Council is incomplete, illegal, unconstitutional, null, void and of no effect whatsoever.”
“The 1st defendant stands in contempt of law and court for his brazen refusal to comply with the tenor of the Abuja Division of Court of Appeal judgment of 15/1/2018 compelling him to the immediate and forthwith appointment off an indigene of FCT, Abuja as minister of the federation,” he said.
“So it is not a personal issue. All previous presidents have also violated our rights,” he said.
Baba-Panya noted that in spite the fact that President Buhari currently has 43 ministerial-designate, he was yet to meet “the minimum requirement of the constitution which is at least one minister each from the 36 states including FCT, making a total of 37.”
He said:”If the court would not be inclined to grant the interim injunction order, we have prayed in the alternative for the court to issue an order on the Mr President and the AGF to come and show course why it should not issue an interim injunction.”
After listening to the application, Justice Taiwo, ordered that the suit should commence during the vacation period of the court.
The judge threw out the initial application restraining the Senate from conducting the confirmation of the ministerial nominees as prayed by the plaintiff and adjourned the matter until Monday for ruling.
