National
Assembly has filed an objection to a suit by Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole
Soyinka, and Fred Agbeyegbe, seeking a Federal High Court, Lagos to
declare that the amended 1999 Constitution is not an act of the people.
The Clerk of the National Assembly, in a
written address dated March 15, 2012, filed by Mr. Friday Akoko, urges
the presiding judge, Justice James Tsoho, to strike out the suit on the
grounds of a lack of jurisdiction.
The plaintiffs had instituted the suit
in 2009 seeking the production of a constitution that is “a true
reflection of the peoples’ opinion” emanating from “a proper
referendum”.
They maintain that the constitution is
“patently and inherently defective” because it allegedly does not
reflect the opinion of the people of Nigeria.
They are therefore asking the court to
order that the draft constitution prepared by the Peoples’ National
Conference in August 2006 and the recommendations of the National
Political Reform Conference of 2006 be subjected to “a proper
referendum” of Nigerians within 18 months.
In the alternative, they asked the court
to order that the 1999 Constitution be subjected to such referendum in
order to seek the opinion of the people of Nigeria.
Among the five respondents in the suit,
only the Clerk of the National Assembly was represented by a counsel at
Thursday’s proceedings, and had so far, filed an address challenging
the court’s jurisdiction to hear the suit.
Other defendants in the suit are the
President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; the Attorney-General of
the Federation; the President of the Senate; and the Speaker of the
House of Representatives.
Akoko maintained that the plaintiffs
ought to have filed the suit in Abuja Judicial Division of the court,
“where the 1999 Constitution was promulgated and all the defendants
reside and carry on their business”.
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