NIGERIAN OIL MINISTER MRS. DIEZANI ALISON MADUEKE RAN INTO A HITCH YESTERDAY IN HER ATTEMPT TO ADVANCE IMPUNITY!

Efforts by the embattled Nigerian Minister of Petroleum Resources Diezani Alison-Madueke and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to prevent their investigation on the allegation that they spent about N10billion on hiring aircraft failed yesterday. A Federal High Court in Abuja did not  grant their exparte application, seeking, among others, to restrain the House of Reps and its committees from investigating the allegation. The court ordered them to put the respondents on notice.

Instead of granting the injunction in the minister and NNPC’s favour, Justice Ahmed Ramat Muhammed directed the House of Representatives to appear before him to show cause why the interim orders being sought by the plaintiffs should not be granted. 

The court further directed that the National Assembly and the House of Representatives, who are the first and second respondents, respectively, be served with the application for the injunction.

“The respondents shall also be served with the originating summons, motion on notice for orders of interlocutory injunction and all other court processes along with this order.
“Hearing notice to also be issued on the respondents.
“These orders are made pursuant to the provisions of Order 26 Rules 10 and 13 of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedures) Rules 2009,” the judge held.
The minister and the NNPC, through their lawyer, Etigwe Uwa (SAN), filed the exparte application with which they sought an order of interim injunction restraining the respondents, their agents or committee from summoning or directing the applicants to appear before any committees, particularly the House of Reps Public Accounts Committee, and requesting the applicants to produce any documents, notes or papers or directing any relevant officers of the applicants to give evidence in respect of the issue before any committees of the respondents as contained in a letter by the House of Reps, dated 26 March 2014, pending the determination of the motion on notice.
They also sought an order of interim injunction restraining the respondents from issuing a warrant to compel the attendance of the applicants before the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Reps “with regard to the investigative public hearing on the leased of aircraft pending the determination of the motion on notice”.
Alternatively, they sought “a status quo order directing parties to maintain the current position as at the date of the filing of this action with regard to the proposed public hearing in respect of the 3rd plaintiff’s (NNPC’s) leased aircraft pending the determination of the motion on notice.”
When the case came up on April 17, the court could not consider any further application because of the absence of the respondents.

The judge, before adjourning the matter till today, noted that the court could not proceed with the case since the respondents were only served the previous day with the court’s order directing them to show cause why the interim orders sought exparte should not be granted.
The plaintiffs are challenging the powers of the National assembly to investigate their alleged spending of about N10b to hire aircraft for the minister. A thenationonlineng.net extract.