The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja yesterday ruled that the process initiated by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recall Senator Dino Melaye from the Senate has to be restarted after it was initially halted when Melaye filed an appeal against a Federal High Court ordering the recall to go on.
a unanimous decision yesterday, the court dismissed the appeal filed by Melaye against the judgment of the Federal High Court delivered last year.
The appellate struck out the suit filed at the court on the ground that there was no cause of action and the federal high court that initially adjudicated the case lacked jurisdiction and ought not to have entertained the case in the first place.
Meanwhile, INEC is yet to issue a statement relating to the date the recall will be reinstated in view of yesterday’s judgment.
It would be recalled that in striking out the motion, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court had directed that all issues pertaining to the case should thereafter be taken to the Court of Appeal.
He noted that since Melaye’s appeal against the September 11 judgement of the court had been entered at the Appellate court; all pending applications should be taken there.
The judge held that the application filed by Melaye, the senator representing Kogi West, for a stay of execution of the verdict, should also be taken to the court. INEC had on September 15 filed the ex-parte motion seeking substituted service of the recall petition on Melaye.
The motion was filed following the alleged refusal of the embattled senator to accept service of the petition and other accompanying documents as earlier ordered by the court on September 11.
At the resumed hearing, INEC’s counsel had urged the court to hear the ex-parte motion, but Melaye’s counsel, Mr. Nkem Okoro, opposed the hearing.
Okoro opposed the motion on the grounds that the court no longer had jurisdiction to hear any application concerning the case since his client’s appeal against the September 11 judgement had been “entered’’ at the Court of Appeal.
