A suit seeking to stop President Muhammadu Buhari from continuing with the swearing in of his recently screened ministerial nominees will be decided on Monday, August 19. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja will, on the date, deliver its ruling in the suit, which came as a result of the exclusion of a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) indigene from his cabinet list. Musa Baba-panya, the applicant, who was also the counsel in the case, had approached the court with an exparte motion asking it to stop the president from going ahead with the inauguration. In the suit with number FHC/ABJ/CS/878/19, Baba-panya, who is also an indigene of Karu in the FCT, said the president’s action was contrary to an appeal court judgment delivered on March 15, 2018. READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda READ ALSO: Presidency reveals why Governor Bello was absent at APC governors’ meeting with Buhari In the suit, President Buhari is the first defendant while the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) is the second defendant. According to Baba-panya, the appeal court’s ruling was a compelling order and it was served on the president through the AGF. It was learnt that the lawyer wants the court to declare that the ministerial list is not complete and as a result, it is illegal and unconstitutional to inaugurate the nominees. “The first defendant stands in contempt of law and court for his brazen refusal to comply with the tenor of the Abuja division of Court of Appeal judgment of 15/1/2018 compelling him to the immediate and forthwith appointment off an indigene of FCT, Abuja as minister of the federation,” he said. With another lawyer, Sylvanus Tanko, Baba-panya, prayed the court to grant an interim injunction restraining the president from inaugurating the confirmed ministers-designate pending the determination of the motion on notice.
