The Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami,
has reportedly filed a suit before a federal high court in Abuja,
seeking to stop the senate from probing the reinstatement of Abdulrasheed Maina into the civil service.
According to TheCable, the suit has been assigned to Justice Binta Nyako, a judge of the federal high court, Abuja.
Recall that there was an uproar in the polity in October last year
after news broke that the former chairman of the Presidential Taskforce
on Pension Reform, Abdulrasheed Maina, had been reinstated as a director
in the Ministry of Interior.
After a public outcry, President Buhari ordered Maina’s immediate
dismissal from public service and called for an investigation into the
circumstances that led to his reinstatement. Maina was dismissed in
2013 for allegedly mismanaging N2 billion as Chairman of the pension
reforms. He was declared wanted by the EFCC and INTERPOL. He currently
still on the run.
The senate on October 24th 2017, mandated its committees on public
service, internal affairs, anti-corruption, establishment and judiciary
to probe the circumstances of Maina’s return to the country and the
public service. The Attorney General appeared before the panel on
November 15th and denied any involvement in Maina’s reinstatement. He
has approached the court to determine if the Senate has the power to
investigate the employment, disengagement, attendance, reinstatement
and/or promotion of a civil servant.
According to court documents seen by TheCable, Malami is asking the
court to among other things 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). Part of the court paper reads
“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). 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 Nigeria1999 (as amended). The power of investigation vested
the national assembly by section 88 (1) of the Constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) is limited and such that
can only be exercised within the confines of Section 88 (2) of the
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended). The
plaintiff as the chief law officer and minister of justice of the
federation is bound to ensure compliance by the Federal Government of
Nigeria and or any of its cognate organs/agencies with the express or
implied contents of extant Judgements and Orders of competent courts in
Nigeria. The defendant cannot constitute itself into a quasi-appellate
court, tribunal or panel with a view to reviewing any executive action
taken in compliance with the adverse judgment in the said Suit No:
FHC/ABJ/CS/65/2013.”
