Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court in Abuja has returned to the court’s Registry a fundamental rights suit by the detained self-styled Director-General of a ‘fake’ agency, the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), Adeniyi Adeyemi.
Justice Egwuatu declined to proceed with the hearing earlier scheduled for yesterday upon realising that the 72-hour period he gave respondents in the case to show cause had not expired.
At the mention of the case yesterday, Adeyemi’s lawyer, Muhammad Abdulaziz, told the court that the respondents had been duly served and that he was ready to proceed with the hearing.
‘As ordered yesterday, all the respondents have been duly served, and we are ready to proceed,’ Abdulaziz said.
Upon a directive by the judge, the court’s Registrar went through the case file and confirmed that the order was served on the respondents on Tuesday, while the hearing notice was served on Wednesday.
Justice Egwuatu queried the timing of the service, noting that the 72-hour period given the respondents to show cause has not expired.
He questioned the competence of the proof of service exhibited by Abdulaziz in relation to the hearing notice.
The judge noted that the respondents were still within time to comply with the court’s order for them to show cause.
He said: ‘Well, in any case, the 72 hours have not expired. And yesterday, you told me it would expire today, and that was why I fixed today for hearing.
‘You know the urgency of your matter; you are the one to do the needful.’
Justice Egwuatu, who is sitting as a vacation judge, said he would return the case file to the court’s Registry for reassignment.
He directed the applicant to return when the time allocated to the respondents expires for further proceedings in the case.
The judge had, in a ruling on an ex-parte application by Adeyemi on September 3 ordered the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tunji Disu and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) Lateef Fagbemi(SAN) to grant Adeyemi access to his lawyers.
He also ordered Disu, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and Fagbemi to show cause, within 72 hours, why the other reliefs sought by Adeyemi, including being granted bail, should not be granted.
Adeyemi, who is being held by the police, had sought six reliefs, including an order for his release , bail pending the determination of the case, and access to medical practitioners of his choice.
He also sought an order restraining the police from interrogating him or obtaining a statement from him without his lawyer being present.