The Senator representing Kogi West senatorial district in the Senate, Senator Dino Melaye, has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of working against an order of a Federal High Court in Abuja by issuing to the public a ‘purported’ amended schedule of his recall from the Senate.
It would be recalled that Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of an Abuja Federal High Court had on Monday, September 11, 2017 dismissed Melaye’s application seeking to stop the recall process even as he ordered INEC to avail the lawmaker with a “copy of the petition and other accompanying documents to enable him prepare for the stakeholders’ meeting for the commencement of the verification exercise within two weeks from the date of the judgement.”
It was revealed to Journalists that despite the fact that INEC was unable to serve the relevant documents on Melaye, who is out of the country, as ordered by Justice Dimgba, the electoral body curiously went ahead to proceed with the recall process by publishing an amended schedule of activities regarding the exercise on Monday, September 18, 2017.
But reacting to the development on Tuesday morning, Senator Melaye said INEC’s actions are null and void so long as they do not comply with a subsisting order of the court of law.
“Anything done by INEC without first complying with Justice Dimgba’s order requiring me to have two weeks to study the so-called ‘Constituents documents’ after service on me, is null and void, as it will be in total disobedience to court order,” Melaye said.
According to reports, that INEC had earlier on Monday, September 18, 2017, approached Justice Dimgba to grant it permission for a substituted means of service on Melaye but the judge refused the prayer even as he had directed both parties to re-appear before him on Thursday, September 28, 2017.
In the same vein, Ijumu local government area chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi State has accused INEC of “vested interest” in the recall saga by publishing an amended timetable on the exercise against order of the court.
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