The Abuja division of the Federal High Court yesterday struck out a suit by the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, seeking to stop the Senate from inviting him for a legislative hearing. Justice John Tsoho, who delivered judgement in the suit filed by Idris against the Senate invitation, held that his excuse for not honouring the Senate’s invitation was not tenable.
Tsoho, who further held that the suit amounted to an abuse of court process, agreed with the Senate and its President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, that the suit was only aimed at preventing the Senate from carrying out its legitimate and constitutional responsibility.
Meanwhile, the judge also withdrew from the IGP’s second suit in which he sought an order quashing the May 9, 2018, resolution of the Senate declaring him “an enemy of democracy and unfit to hold any public office within and outside Nigeria.”
The judge sent the case file back to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Adamu Abdu-Kafarati, for re-assignment to another judge.
The Senate had in a letter dated April 25, 2018, invited the IGP to appear before it in relation to the purported inhuman treatment of the Kogi West senator, Dino Melaye, and the killings in many parts of the country, including Benue, Plateau and Kwara states.
The IGP, on April 26, refused to appear before the Senate but delegated the Deputy Inspector-General of Police (Operations) and Commissioner of Police, Kogi State, to represent him at the Senate. But the Senate refused to grant an audience to the two representatives, insisting that the IGP must personally appear for the legislative hearing.
The upper legislative chamber then rescheduled the meeting for May 2 and again directed that the IGP must honour its invitation in person.
But the IGP, through his lawyer, Dr. Alex Izinyon, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, filed his suit on April 30, 2018, challenging the Senate’s insistence on his personal appearance, which he argued was unnecessary because the issues for which he was invited were not personal.
