The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Tuesday, adjourned to 31 October to deliver a ruling and judgement in a suit seeking the sack of the Chairman of the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Barrister Chiedu Ebie, over alleged wrongful appointment.
Following Ebie’s appointment last year, some aggrieved stakeholders from Niger Delta dragged President Bola Tinubu, the Senate President, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), NDDC, and Ebie to court over alleged violation of the commission’s Act.
According to the plaintiffs, who hail from Bayelsa and Delta State communities, Ebie is not qualified to occupy the seat of NDDC Board Chairman because he is not from the oil-producing area with the highest quantum of oil production.
The plaintiffs – Chief Goodnews Gereghewei, Chief Eddy Brayei, and Mr Jonah Engineyouwei – sued the defendants on behalf of themselves and the Bisangbene, Agge, and Amatu1 communities in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
Jerry Mulade-Aroh (representing Gbaramatu Kingdom), Mr. Jolomi Itsekure (representing Itsekiri Oil and Gas producing communities), and Hon. Friday Ugedi (representing Egbema Kingdom) all in Delta State also sought to be joined as plaintiffs in the suit.
In the originating summon dated 11 January 2024, the plaintiffs argued that both President Tinubu and the National Assembly contravened the NDDC Act by screening and appointing Chiedu as NDDC Board Chairman.
In an affidavit deposed in support of the suit, the plaintiffs averred that Ebie’s appointment “was done in error and is against the clear provisions of the law”.
They submitted that “the screening and confirmation of the fifth defendant (Ebie) by the Nigerian Senate was also done in error and was against the clear provisions of the law”.
At the previous proceeding, the plaintiffs through their lawyer, B. B. Abalaba, asked the court to determine whether Ebie, who is said to be from a community with minimal oil production, is qualified to be NDDC Chairman.
Other issues raised for determination are: Whether Ebie’s appointment the President as the chairman of the NDDC is not in contravention of the NDDC Act.
Whether the appointment is not Illegal, null and void?
They prayed the court to set aside Ebie’s appointment as the chairman of NDDC.
At Tuesday’s proceeding, counsel to the President and the AGF, Mrs. Maimuna Lami-Ashiru, who is the Director of Civil Litigation in the Federal Ministry of Justice, informed the court that they have filed a preliminary objection to the plaintiffs’ originating summon where they prayed the court to dismiss the suit with a substantial cost.
She said: “We are asking the court to dismiss the suit for want of jurisdiction with a substantial cost”.
Counsel to the other defendants, Umaru Jibril, who represented the National Assembly, and Emmanuel Akumaye, who appeared for the NDDC, and Ebie, in their separate reply, also urged the court to dismiss the suit for want of jurisdiction with substantial cost.
The plaintiffs on their part, through their lawyer, Mr. Egberipou Barakemi, urged the court to dismiss the preliminary objection of the first and third defendants as well as the submission of the other defendants in the matter.
