N10bn jet scandal: Alison-Madueke, NNPC get nod to challenge probe

The Federal High Court, Abuja, yesterday gave Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), permission to challenge the legality of the probe set up by  the House of Representatives over alleged spending of N10 billion on a chartered jet.

Justice Ahmed Mohammed granted the leave while ruling on an application the minister brought along with the NNPC to amend their originating summons in the case.
Justice Mohammed explained that he granted the application because it was harmless and did not in any way change the character of the claims in the originating summons filed by the plaintiffs.
In addition, the court held that the request to amend was the first in the case and did not amount to abuse.
The court said it would pronounce, on whether the proposed investigative public hearing by the House of Representatives was illegal, for alleged failure to comply with the requirements of section 88 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
The court, however, rejected a separate application by the minister and NNPC to further amend the suit to include seeking the pronouncement of the court on whether the powers of the National Assembly in section 88 of the 1999 Constitution extended to holding hearings on petitions written against ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of government or embarking on oversight visits to the MDAs to scrutinise their activities.
Justice Mohammed granted the order of status quo in the matter after it dismissed an argument by the National Assembly that no court had powers to stop it from performing its constitutional duty of law-making and discharge of its oversight function over the ministry and its agencies.
The NNPC and the petroleum minister had filed an originating summons seeking, among other reliefs, a “declaration that having regard to the provisions of sections 88 and 89 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended and Section 8 of the Legislatives Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act Cap. L12 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2010, the respondents or any of their committees are precluded from summoning the applicants 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for the purpose of giving evidence and or producing any papers, books, records or other documents which relate to the unpublished official records of the applicants without the consent of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria first had and obtained by the respondents or their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.
(The Sun)