Diezani, NNPC file fresh suit against jet probe

The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Deziani Alison-Madueke and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation have filed a fresh suit before a Federal High Court in Abuja seeking to restrain the National Assembly from probing her over the alleged N10bn chartered jet scandal.

Through the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/346/2014, the plaintiffs are praying the court to declare that both the Senate and the House of Representatives lacked the power to conduct any investigation into allegation of fraud, corruption or criminal activities.

The Senate and the House of Representatives are the only respondents in the suit. The suit followed an order given by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, directing Diezani to appear before her for further probe of the jet scandal.

Meanwhile, the applicants are praying the court to restrain both the Senate and the House of Representatives from further “conducting direct personal or physical probe, inquiry and/or investigation into any alleged fraud, corruption or other criminal activities in the agencies under the applicant’s supervision or control.”

They are also seeking an order of perpetual injunction restraining the National Assembly from summoning them “or any agencies under the applicants’ supervision or control, to appear before them for the purpose of giving evidence and/or producing any papers, books, records or other documents, which relate to the unpublished official records of the applicants without the consent of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria first had and obtained by the Respondents or their Committees.”

Diezani has a similar suit pending before Justice Ahmed Mohammed. The matter has been adjourned till Monday for further proceedings.

The fresh suit by the minister and the NNPC was filed through her counsel, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN).

The applicants submitted five issues for determination. Among the issues is “whether by virtue of the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as altered, particularly Sections 88, 89 and 214 thereof, the respondents or any of their committees are legally and constitutionally empowered and/or competent to personally/physically probe or conduct investigation into allegations of fraud or other criminal activities said to have occurred in the agencies under the applicants’ supervision or control, when there exist agencies that are legally and constitutionally empowered to carry out or conduct such investigations into alleged fraud or other criminal acts and prosecute offenders upon conclusion of their investigations.”