SAN FRANCISCO, January 08, (THEWILL) – The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday refused the request by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, to stop the Senate from probing the reinstatement of Abdulrasheed Maina, embattled former Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, into the civil service.
THEWILL recalls that Maina was secretly reinstated into the service leading to uproar and blame game by the ministries involved and the Head of Service (HoS) with President Muhammadu Buhari ordering his disengagement.
However, both the Senate and the House of Representatives are probing into the controversial reinstatement of Maina who has been declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Troubled by the probe, the AGF filed an ex-parte motion, praying the court for an order of injunction stopping the Senate pending the determination of his substantive suit.
But Justice Binta Nyako, who heard the AGF’s ex parte application in chambers on Monday, ordered the AGF to put the National Assembly on notice and directed that the court processes be served on the National Assembly to enable it to appear before the court to show cause why the orders sought by the AGF should not be granted.
The court then adjourned until January 15 for the National Assembly to show cause why the AGF’s request should not be granted.
The AGF had asked the court to determine whether the National Assembly had the right to probe issues relating to the employment, attendance at work, disengagement, reinstatement and or promotion of a civil servant saying it was the purview of the Federal Civil Service Commission.
He also asked the court to declare that, “the employment, attendance at work, disengagement, reinstatement and or promotion of a civil servant are matters outside the exclusive and concurrent legislative lists contained in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended);
“That the National Assembly cannot legitimately regulate the employment, attendance at work, disengagement, reinstatement and or promotion of a civil servant, which are matters exclusively within the purview of the Federal Civil Service Commission under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria1999 (as amended).
“That the National Assembly lacks the legislative competence to investigate the employment, attendance at work, disengagement, reinstatement and or promotion of a civil servant which are matters exclusively within the purview of the Federal Civil Service Commission under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).”
