In the N100 billion lawsuit filed by Senator Ifeanyi Ararume against President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, drama followed when two Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Professors Kayinsola Ajayi and Etigwa Uwa, staged a walkout on the court.
In the lawsuit filed by Ararume challenging his dismissal as the Chairman of the oil firm, Ajayi, a professor of law, and Uwa had appeared before Justice Inyang Ekwo to represent the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited [NNPCL].
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A retinue of attorneys led by a law professor filed three applications on behalf of the NNPCL, one of which asked the court to halt the case until an appeal of the Federal High Court’s decision from January 11, 2023.
After mentioning the legal actions taken by NNPC in opposition to the lawsuit, Ajayi claimed that the petition for a stay of proceedings needed to be addressed separately and the judge’s decision needed to be made before any other motions could be considered.
To save the court’s judicial time, the Judge instructed the Senior Attorney to move all the applications together and that he would issue individual rulings for each applicant.
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Ararume, who was represented by Chris Uche [SAN], asserted that the petition for a stay of proceedings had not been served on him, but Professor Ajayi insisted on filing the application separately, arguing that the Judge must rule on it separately before considering any other matter.
However, Professor Ajayi and his fellow senior counsel quickly staged a walkout from court after the judge decided to consider all the motions concurrently in accordance with the Federal High Court’s Practice Direction. They had previously announced their departure from the case.
As soon as the Judge instructed them to move all three applications together, the two senior lawyers and their juniors left the court.
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Later on in the proceedings, Ararume’s attorney, Uche, sought the court to rely on the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) to overturn the dismissal of his client from his position as chairman of the NNPCL while adopting his final brief of argument.
Uche informed the court that after incorporating the oil firm in his name and being scheduled for inauguration in that role, President Muhammadu Buhari violated the law by removing Ararume.
Abubakar Shuaib, the attorney for President Buhari, requested that the court dismiss the case against his client since it was time-barred when it was filed.
Shuaib specifically stated that Ararume’s lawsuit was incompetent because it violated Section 2(a) of the Public Officers Act.
On behalf of the Corporate Affairs Commission [CAC], the third defendant in the case, Akeem Mustapha SAN sought the court to deny jurisdiction over the case.
The senior attorney maintained that aside from incorporating NNPCL as a limited liability corporation based on the papers provided to it, his client had no involvement in the contentious removal of Ararume.
Mustapha, however, said that Ararume’s appointment was political and that Buhari has the power to hire and fire, adding that the appointment has nothing to do with CAMA law.
Justice Ekwo set the ruling and potential verdict in the lawsuit for 28 March after hearing arguments from Ararume, President Buhari, and the Corporate Affairs Commission.
Ararume had dragged Buhari before the Court praying it to declare his removal as NNPC Chief illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional and that it is a total breach of CAMA law under which NNPCL was incorporated.
Apart from asking the court to issue an order to return him to office, Ararume also demanded N100 billion as compensation for the damages he suffered nationally and internationally in the unlawful way and manner his removal was carried out by President Buhari.
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