Court Summons Ogun Assembly Over Suit Filed By Ex-OPIC Boss
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has summoned the Ogun State House of Assembly (OGHA) to show cause within seven days, why it should not be restrained from proceeding with the case against the former Managing Director of the Ogun State Property Investment Corporation (OPIC), Mr Jide Odusolu.
Justice Peter Lifu made the order on Monday sequel to a motion moved by Odusolu’s counsel, Adetunji Adedoyin-Adeniyi, before adjourning the matter until November 1 for hearing.
Adedoyin-Adeniyi argued vehemently on why the court should grant the interim reliefs contained in his client’s motion ex parte.
Rather, the court ordered the respondents to the suit to show cause upon being served with the order and the court processes, why they should not be restrained in line with the interim reliefs sought by the plaintiff.
The respondents are the Inspector-General of Police, Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 2, Commissioner of Police in Ogun, OGHA, and the clerk of the Assembly.
On September 21, 2012, the Assembly had during its plenary purportedly adopted the report of its Committee on Anti-Corruption and Public Accounts which claimed to have investigated the finances of OPIC and huge sums of money missing from the agency’s accounts.
But Odusolu filed a suit before the court, seeking a declaration that the proceedings of OGHA and the report of the committee which it purportedly adopted constituted an infringement on his fundamental right to a fair hearing.
He also sought a declaration that the Assembly lacked the competence to investigate the alleged crime and that the chairman of the committee was himself an interested party who served together with Odusolu in the previous administration and even inspected some OPIC projects which he later claimed have not been executed.
Odusolu also asked the court to grant an order of injunction to restrain the Assembly from deploying the report to initiate any criminal complaint against him before the police and to restrain the police from acting on the said report pending the hearing and final determination of the suit before it.
In a 40-paragraph affidavit deposed to by the plaintiff, he traced the series of projects executed by OPIC, adding that the accounts of OPIC have been audited by professionals and no fund was missing at all.
He stated further that he was being persecuted by the committee and some members of the Assembly.
