Court dismisses Hunkuyi’s motion to join pro-Saraki suit

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday struck out an application by one prominent member of the Unity Forum of Senators, Suleiman Hunkuyi, seeking to join a suit filed by another senator, Gilbert Nnaji, who is opposed to police investigation into the alleged forgery of the Senate Standing Orders 2015.

Hunkuyi had intended to join the suit as a defendant in order to be able to oppose it.

Meanwhile, he and other four members of the Unity Forum of Senators in the Senate are still pursuing a pending separate suit which they filed before the court, seeking the removal of Bukola Saraki and Ike Ekweremadu as Senate President and Deputy Senate, respectively, on the grounds that the Senate Standing Orders used for the conduct of their elections were forged.

But Nnaji, an Enugu-East Senator, had filed his suit, asking the court to stop police investigation into the forgery allegation. He contested that the investigation “is inspired by a devious petition by the Secretary of the Unity Forum Senators, solely aimed at unjustly incriminating the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu.”

Tuesday was slated for the hearing of Hunkuyi’s application to join Nnaji’s suit, but he was absent from court and was also not represented by any lawyer.

Justice Gabriel Kolawole, therefore, struck out the joinder application for lack of diligent prosecution.

Also, hearing of the notice of preliminary objection filed by the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, urging the court to dismiss the suit on the grounds that the plaintiff lacked locus standi, suffered a setback on Tuesday.

The court could not hear the preliminary objection due to the complaint by the lawyer, who represented the Attorney General of the Federation’s office, T. A. Gasali, that he had not been served with one of the plaintiff’s key processes.

But, in response, Justice Kolawole ordered that the case file be returned to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, for reassignment to another judge because he would be completing his duties as a vacation on Friday.