By Ise-Oluwa Ige
Posted to the Web: Tuesday, January 09, 2007

The suit withdrawal coincided with the filing of a fresh suit by Vice President Atiku himself seeking an order to restrain the National Assembly from considering any nominee from President Olusegun Obasanjo as VP or and giving effect to his (Obasanjo’s) letter informing it (National Assembly) of the declaration of his office as Vice President vacant.

Vice President Atiku first filed a suit before the same Court of Appeal last month, praying for an order to stop the Federal Government from declaring his seat vacant following his defection from the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the opposition Action Congress (AC). The suit was still pending alongside the separate one filed by the Federal Government when Atiku filed his new suit.
The suit filed by Atiku last December to stop the Federal Government from declaring his office vacant by President Obasanjo was also withdrawn yesterday.

But the Federal Government said it would not file any fresh suit as done by Atiku. According to an impeccable source close to the Federal Government’s lawyers, a counter-affidavit would only be filed to Atiku’s fresh suit. The source also said the Federal Government would make a counter-claim in its response to Atiku’s suit. The counter-claim is expected to adopt all the reliefs earlier sought by the Federal Government in the suit withdrawn by it yesterday.
Asked why the Federal Government decided not to file a fresh suit as Atiku did, the source said: “It is to avoid multiplicity of suits. After all, all we requested in our old suit will be adopted in our counter-claim.”

The legal team of Vice President Atiku has, however, served the Chambers of Chief Afe Babalola (SAN), representing the Federal Government, necessary court processes in the fresh case.
The Federal Government, according to Vanguard’s source, would react formally to Atiku’s suit today by a way of counter-affidavit. The source also said the December 10 hearing date earlier issued still stands.
In the fresh suit filed by Atiku before the Court of Appeal, the Attorney-General of the Federation, the Inspector-General of Police, the National Assembly and three others were named as respondents.

The three are the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and INEC.
Specifically, Atiku formulated three fundamental cum constitutional questions for the court to determine.
He also asked for three declaratory and five injunctive reliefs to be issued in his favour if the questions were resolved in his favour.
The questions formulated for determination include:

•Whether having regard to the combined provisions of Sections 135 and 142 (2) of the 1999 constitution, the plaintiff’s term of office as Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which commenced on May 29, 2003 still subsists;

•Whether having regard to the provision of Sections 142, 143, 144 and 146 of the 1999 constitution or any other provisions of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or any law, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria can declare vacant the office of the plaintiff as Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Should the questions be determined in his favour, Atiku wants the Court of Appeal to issue in his favour the following reliefs including:

•A declaration that the term of office of the plaintiff (Atiku) as the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which commenced from May 29, 2003 still subsists and does not terminate until May 29, 2007;

•A declaration that the president has no power under the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or any other law to declare the office or seat of Atiku as Vice President of Nigeria vacant;

•A declaration that the purported declaration by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria of the office of Atiku as Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria vacant is unconstitutional, illegal, null and void and of no effect whatsoever;

•An order setting aside the withdrawal of all the rights, privileges, entitlements inclusive all security details of Atiku as directed by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria;

•An order restoring all the rights, privileges, entitlements and or benefit howsoever of Atiku as the Vice President of Nigeria;

•An order of perpetual injunction restraining the Federal Government whether by themselves, agents, privies, servants or otherwise howsoever from impugning or violating the constitutional immunity conferred on Atiku as the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria;

•An order of perpetual injunction restraining the National Assembly, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and INEC whether by themselves, their agents, privies, servants or otherwise howsoever from considering any nominee from the President to the office of the Vice President; and

•An order of perpetual injunction restraining INEC whether by itself, its agents, privies, servants or otherwise howsoever from considering and or giving effect to the President’s letter informing them of the declaration of the seat and or his office as the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The originating summons was accompanied by a 22-paragraph affidavit which detailed how the Presidency has been threatening to declare his seat vacant, arrest him immediately he steps on the shores of Nigeria from the US where he is on vacation and how his privileges of office have been whittled down.