CJ GRANTS JUDGE FIAT TO DELIVER JUDGEMENT IN THE NATION'S SUIT AGAINST THE SENATE

The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta has directed Justice Mohammed Yunusa to deliver judgment in a suit filed by The Nation Newspaper and its editor, Gbenga Omotosho against the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions.

Justice Auta issued a fiat directing Justice Yunusa, who had reserved judgment in the case before he was transferred to Enugu Division of the court, to come back to Lagos to deliver the judgment.

Vintage Press Limited (publisher of The Nation), Omotoso and a correspondent Imam Bello, had filed the suit through their lawyer, Wahab Shittu challenged their invitation by the Senate over a features story published in The Nation newspaper of July 30, 2015.

The Senate Committee had invited Omotosho and Bello to appear before it to prove the authenticity of the allegations contained in a story, titled “Motion: 22 APC Northern Senators working against Buhari,” which the Senate considered to be offensive.

The Committee had, in a letter dated August 5, 2015, threatened to invoke Section 89(1)(d) of the 1999 Constitution against Omotosho and Bello, if they failed to willingly appear to prove the authenticity of their allegation.

However, the applicants, who considered the Senate invitation to be an infringement on their fundamental right to freedom of expression under Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution, approached the court seeking an order of perpetual injunction barring their invitation.


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