9th June, 2015
Akin Kuponiyi
A federal high court has re-affirmed its earlier order not to arrest the Ogun East senator-elect, Buruji Kasamu this morning. This comes after another Federal high court presided over by justice Okon Abang in his ruling nullified both the provisional warrant of arrest obtained by NDLEA at a Federal High court in Lagos and the extradition request filed by Attorney General of the Federation before a Federal high court in Abuja.
The judge then awarded a cost of N10,000 against the NDLEA in favour of the applicant. The same amount was also awarded against the AGF, NSA and the NSCDC.
A Federal high court presided over by Justice Ibrahim Buba earlier this morning re-affirmed his order that based on an earlier order made by the court in a contempt proceeding against the Chairman of NDLEA and the Attorney General of the Federation pending before the court for allegedly disobeying the order of the court and re-affirmed earlier adjourned date of 19th of June, 2015.
The judge further declared that the provisional warrant of arrest was obtained for want of jurisdiction in the sense that the judge’s attention was not drawn to the existing order barring NDLEA and the AGF from taking any further steps on the extradition process.
The court also declared the proceedings at the Federal High Court Abuja a nullity.
Justice Abang also overruled the preliminary objections raised by the NDLEA and the AGF.
The objections raised are to the extent that the application is an abuse of court’s process, the court has no function to perform again since judgement has been delivered and that there was no personal service of the application on the NDLEA Chairman, Ahmadu Giade.
Justice Abang in his ruling for the enforcement of the judgment in the fundamental human rights enforcement suit dismissed the preliminary objections of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) while, Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), did not file any response.
The judge said for the purpose of determining whether or not a reasonable cause of action has been disclosed, he is enjoined by law to accept the fact as presented by the applicant.
On the objections of the NDLEA, the court held that the insinuations by its Chairman, Ahmadu Giade, that he is not a jurisdistic person does not hold water.
The court held that the NDLEA Chairman is a natural person that can sue and be sued. Justice Abang also dismissed the objections raised by the AGF, NSA and the NSCDC.
The court said the applicant’s claims are in line with the provisions of Chapter 4 of the 1999 constitution. ”The claims of the applicant are fundamental rights claims and the court has the jurisdiction to them”, the judge held.
A cost of N10,000 was eventually awarded against the NDLEA in favour of the applicant. The same amount was also awarded against the AGF, NSA and the NSCDC.
In the judgment, the court had restrained the IGP, SSS, NDLEA, NCS and the AGF from taking any step from arresting Kashamu based on a petition linking him to a drug offence.
Justice Abang held that the order is still subsisting since there has been no order staying its execution. ”The respondents cannot in the exercise of their statutory powers, without appealing the earlier judgement, acts on any application seeking the extradition of the applicant,” the judge said.
The judge however declined to grant all the reliefs sought by the applicant that has to do with the involvement of a former Nigeria’s President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, in his alleged planned arrest.
The judge said it noted that the alleged role of Chief Obasanjo was mentioned in several places in the applicant’s motion and so it is compelling that the court should hear from Obasanjo.
”Obasanjo ought to have been joined and this would have helped the court in deciding whether or not to grant the reliefs. The court cannot agree with the
applicant that Chief Obasanjo colluded with others to abduct him,” the judge held.
The court also turned down Kashamu’s request for a perpetual injunction against the respondents from assuming his position as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The court said the respondents cannot be restrained perpetually from arresting the applicant. They were only restrained from arresting the applicant without a warrant of arrest and from forcefully extraditing the applicant without due recourse to the extradition act.
The court however ordered the IGP to protect him as other Nigerians. The court further restrained the IGP from withdrawing the security details currently attached to the applicant.
The court equally directed the Clerk of the National Assembly to accord the applicant all he deserved as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.