Justice Ahmed Mohammed of a Federal High Court in Abuja, yesterday, refused to grant a fresh ex-parte application seeking to restrain Mr. Aminu Tambuwal from further acting as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The application was filed before the court by a member of the House House of Representatives, Mr. Abiodun Akinlade.

The applicant, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, representing Yewa South/Ipokia Federal Constituency of Ogun State in the House, had in his application, prayed the court to stop Tambuwal from parading himself as the Speaker, pending the determination of the suit challenging his continued stay in office.

Aside the ex-parte application that was declined by the court yesterday, Akinlade is in his substantive suit, seeking a “judicial interpretation” of an earlier judgment delivered by Justice Evoh Chukwu of the same Federal High Court in Abuja, where the court held that there was no division in the PDP.

He insisted that in view of the earlier decision of the court, Tambuwal’s defection to the All Progressives Congress, APC, on October 28, amounted to a violation of Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

Cited as defendants in the suit were Tambuwal, the House of Representatives and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

Meantime, while rejecting the ex-parte application, yesterday, Justice Mohammed directed the plaintiff to put Tambuwal and all the other defendants on notice.

Credit: Vanguard Nigeria