Tag: Fintiri

Ex-Acting Gov refuses to withdraw appeal

The Peoples Democratic Party PDP is at war with the immediate past Acting Governor of Adamawa State, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri over his alleged refusal to bow to pressure of the party to shelve the appeal against the victory of Bala James Ngillari in court.

A Federal High Court in Abuja had ruled that Ngillari who was Deputy to impeached Governor Murtala Nyako should be sworn in as governor since his reported resignation along with the former governor was not in accordance with the constitution.

Following the court ruling, the swearing in of Fintiri, the former Speaker of the House of Assembly  as Acting Governor was nullified. Ngillari has since been sworn in and Fintiri has appealed the judgement.

According to dependable sources, the party may soon suspend Fintiri from its fold for disobeying the orders of the PDP from the party hierarchy in Abuja and even the intervention of the leader of the party, President Goodluck Jonathan.

A source in Adamawa State office of the party said he filed the case despite all entreaties on Fintiri not to pursue an appeal on the victory of another party man.

Reports in Yola said after the swearing-in of Ngillari, the state PDP Chairman Chief Joel Hamanjoda Madaki had asked Fintiri not to pursue the appeal but Fintiri refused. The former Acting Governor’s refusal to heed this appeal was confirmed by the press secretary to Madaki, Mr. Fidelis Jockthan.  According to him, the party had wanted an amicable resolution of the problems between the duo.

Jocktham said Madaki as the father figure in the party wanted Fintiri to drop the appeal and allow the PDP to handle the matter but he rejected the moves of the party and filed his appeal.

The PDP at the national level also in a statement by Mr. Olisa Metuh, said that the PDP as a party will not pursue any appeal, yet Fintiri filed an appeal through his lawyer, Chief Bayo Ojo.

President Jonathan as leader of the party also intervened by inviting the former Acting Governor to Aso Villa, where he was appealed, not to further hurt the party’s chances by his appeal.

The party, according to highly reliable sources which pleaded anonymity, said the party may be left with the last option of suspending Fintiri for fragrantly disobeying party directives.

Sacked Adamawa State Acting Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri has petitioned the National Judicial Council (NJC), accusing the Federal High Court, Abuja of plotting to frustrate his appeal.

Fintiri was sacked on October 8 via a judgment delivered by Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, Abuja in a suit by Governor Bala Ngilari.

The judge held that Fintiri was wrongly sworn in as Acting Governor as the then Deputy Governor, Ngilari, did not resign from office in accordance with constitutional provision.

Although Fintiri has appealed the judgement, he is accusing the court of delaying the release of a certified true copy of the judgment to enable him perfect his appeal.

Fintiri’s allegation was contained in a petition dated  October 10 and a follow-up dated October 14 signed by Duro Adeyele (SAN).

Adeyele works with the former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Bayo Ojo (SAN), who is Fintiri’s lead lawyer.

The petition reads:  “To begin with, though Tuesday October 7 was a public holiday, I got a phone call at about 6:19 pm from someone who claimed to be the secretary to the presiding judge of Federal High Court No 6, Abuja, intimating me that judgment in the above quoted suit would be delivered the next day,  October 8.

“I was not in Abuja, so I  instructed one of my junior colleagues to go for the judgment.

“I also emphasised that he should obtain a certified true copy of the judgment as my expectation was that His Lordship would make a copy available to parties knowing the constitutional and political nature of the case. However, no copy of the judgment was available.”

“On getting back to Abuja on October 8, I instructed a colleague to apply for a certified true copy of the judgment to concretise the notice of appeal, which I had my client’s instruction to file.

“Till close of business  that day, the judgment was not  available. Nevertheless, I  went ahead to file a notice of appeal based on what my colleague heard in court.

“My Lord, to my surprise, throughout Thursday and Friday, Justice Ademola  refused to release the judgment and there is no indication from the court when it will be ready and made available to me.

“One would expect that in a matter such as this, his Lordship should have gotten the judgment ready before delivering same.

“What has compounded the situation is that even though I was not given a copy of the judgment, an enrolled order of the judgment was served on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters at 11:28 am on October 8 and by 2pm of the same day, a copy of the said enrolled order was taken to my client’s Chief of Staff  at the Government House, Yola, Adamawa State.

“On October 13,  I sent one a colleague to the said court to obtain a certified true copy of the judgment.

“To my chagrin and consternation, the Court Registrar again informed him that the judgment was not ready for certification as it was still being typed.

“That after typing, it would be proof-read by the Legal Assistant to the trial judge before it would be presented to his Lordship to proof-read and errors will be corrected by the Secretary before his Lordship would sign.

“He finally informed our colleague that the judgment would not be ready for collection until next week.

“My Lord, this makes it evident that the judgment is being deliberately withheld from our client to frustrate the prosecution of his appeal and render his appeal nugatory”.

Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja yesterday explained why Acting Adamawa State Governor Umaru Fintiri should vacate office.

  In a judgment, he restrained the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from proceeding with the governorship by-election scheduled for Saturday.

The judge held that the assumption of the governor’s office by the Speaker was illegal and unconstitutional when the deputy governor had not resigned as provided under Section 306 (1)(2) and (5) of the Constitution.

The judgment followed a suit filed by then Deputy Governor Bala Ngilari; with Fintiri, the Speaker, Adamawa State House of Assembly, the House of Assembly, the Acting Governor, Adamawa State impeached Governor Murtala Nyako and INEC as defendants.

Ngilari, who denied resigning his position within the contemplation of the provision of Section 306(1), (2) & (5) of the Constitution, argued that the purported resignation letter he sent to the Speaker was not meant to be acted upon by the House of Assembly.

He denied resigning from office as the deputy governor according to law.

Justice Ademola held that with the denial by Ngilari that he resigned and the denial by Nyako that he received a resignation letter from his former deputy, the plaintiff had proved his case since the defendants could not prove that the plaintiff validly resigned.

The judge, who suspected foul play on the part of the 1st to 3rd defendants, said a careful perusal of the letters they tendered and claimed were written by the plaintiff showed that they carried the same reference numbers – DGO/GHY/PO/60/75. The judge said it was strange in the public/civil service practice for two letters addressed to two people to have the same reference numbers.

He also noted that the purported resignation letters were dated July 15, when the governor stated, in his affidavit, that he left Yola (the state capital) on July 14.

Justice Ademola held that the plaintiff, having discharged the burden of proof that he did not resign according to law, the onus shifted to the defendants, “who failed, in every material particular, to prove to the court the existence of a legitimate resignation letter by the plaintiff.”

He further held that although it was shown that the Speaker (Fintiri) received the resignation letter by the plaintiff, it was not the responsibility of the Speaker, under the constitution, to receive a Deputy Governor’s resignation letter.

 The judge said it is the prerogative of the governor or whoever he authorises.

The judge discarded a document tendered by the defendants, claiming that the then governor nominated a member of the House of Assembly, A. Kamale, to replace the plaintiff. He held that the document titled: “Replacement of the Deputy Governor” cannot take the place of the Deputy Governor’s resignation under Section 306(1) (2) and (d) of the Constitution.

The judge discountenanced the documents tendered by the defendants on the grounds that they were of “doubtful origin, lacked putative values and were products of afterthought.” He added that the documents told “lies against themselves and were filled with contradictions and inconsistencies.”

He held that even if the letters purportedly written by the plaintiff to the then Governor and the Speaker (tendered by Fintiri and other members of the House of Assembly) were genuine, they failed to provide proof of service of the letter on the then Governor or evidence that he received such letter.

“From available facts and evidence, the plaintiff (James Bala Ngilari) did not resign from office as the Deputy Governor as required under Section 306(1)(2) and (5) of the Constitution,” the judge held.

He declared as unconstitutional and illegal, the swearing in of the then Speaker, the Deputy Governor having not resigned in the eye of the law.

The judge further held that the 6th defendant, INEC, can not conduct any by-election into the office of governor in Adamawa State on October 11 in this circumstance.

Justice Ademola held that by argument and evidence provided, the plaintiff’s suit succeeds.

He granted the consequential reliefs sought by the plaintiff. They include an order of injunction restraining INEC and its agents from conducting a by-election to fill the office of the Governor, following the impeachment of the Governor and the purported resignation of his deputy.

He also granted an order removing the 3rd defendant (Umaru Fintiri) as the Acting Governor of Adamawa State forthwith and ordered either the Chief Judge of Adamawa State (or Acting Chief Judge or the President of the Customary Court of Appeal to swear in the plaintiff) as the substantive governor.