Court Rejects Motion To Sack Tambuwal As Speaker

                                                                                                       THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) failed yesterday in its bid to sack House of Representatives’ Speaker Aminu Tambuwal. The Federal High Court in Abuja refused an ex-parte motion filed by the party’s member, Abiodun Akinlade. Akinlade, a member of the House or Representatives, representing Yewa South/Ipokia Federal Constituency of Ogun State, had by the motion, sought to restrain Tambuwal from continuing to act or parade himself as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice. He also sought an order dispensing with personal service and for substituted service on Tambuwal “by serving all processes in this suit in the office of the Speaker, House of Representatives”. Akinlade’s lawyer Babs Akinwumi, while moving the ex-parte motion, urged the court to grant the interim injunctions sought by his client pending the hearing of the substantive suit earlier filed by the lawmaker. Ruling, Justice Ahmed Mohammed refused Akinlade’s prayers on the ground that it was unfair to defendants in the case for the court to make ex-parte orders against them when they were already aware of the case and were represented in court by lawyers. He ordered Akinlade to convert the ex-parte application to a motion on notice and serve it on the defendants to enable them respond to it. “In this situation, all the parties are represented in this case. It will be most unfair to grant an order ex-parte against a party that has representatives in a case,” the judge said.