The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Monday ruled that the status quo in the House of Representatives should be maintained, with Aminu Tambuwal still Speaker.
By virtue of this verdict, the House of Representatives Speaker, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, will remain on seat as the speaker and enjoy the benefits that accompany the position until the date of the case’s adjournment scheduled for Wednesday, December 3, 2014.
Also the court ruling maintained that there will be no reconvening of members of the House on the issue until the stipulated day.
Meanwhile, the hearing of the case will continue on Friday, November 7, 2014.
In reaction however, the lawmakers in the opposition All Progressive Congress, APC had filed a suit to halt the reported plans by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party to re-convene before the adjourn date of December 3.
They appealed to the court to “make a declaration that only the speaker can issue a directive to re-convene the House and any other attempt is illegal and unconstitutional”.
Among the issues presented by the lawmakers for the courts determination also include; “whether in view of section 60 of the 1999 constitution and rules 18 of the House standing order the House of Representative can be re-convened without the express application to the speaker”
Furthermore,they sought to know if the House could be re-convened without prior directives from the speaker to notify the members of such re-assembly.
Others are whether the House can be re-convened by any other principal officer of the House of representative without recourse to the speaker.
Speaking to journalists, counsel to the All Progressives Congress lawmakers, Mr Mahmud Magaji, disclosed that the legislators also sought “a declaration that the House of Representative cannot be reconvened without recourse to the speaker and an express directive by him to the clerk of the house to do same.
“They also asked for an order of mandatory injunction restraining anyone from reconvening the House of Representatives on an earlier date in defiance to the December 3 when plenary was formally adjourned”.
This is coming days after the speaker defected to the All Progressives Congress from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on October 28, 2014, the PDP had advised him to do the needful vacate the seat of the speaker of the House of Representatives.
