A Legal Practitioner, Oladimeji Felix Ekengba, has sued President Muhammadu Buhari, Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) Abubakar Malami, and Niger Delta Affairs Minister Umana Umana for their alleged unlawful interference in the operations and management of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
In the suit filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja, Ekengba accused President Buhari, the AGF and Umana of flouting the NDDC Act in recent appointments and actions.
The lawyer claimed that Umana unlawfully assumed the position of the Managing Director of the intervention agency in the running of its affairs, contrary to the provisions of the law that established it.
In an affidavit supporting the suit, the plaintiff averred that the President, having sworn to uphold the provisions and tenets of the Constitution, is under obligations to ensure the enforcement and compliance with all Acts of the National Assembly, including that of the NDDC.
He added that Umana was aiding and abetting the President in allegedly breaching the provisions of the Constitution by seeking to interfere or usurp the powers of the board and management of the NDDC, contrary to Section 4 of the 1999 Constitution and Section 2 of the NDDC Act.
The plaintiff asserted that President Buhari, by an administrative fiat, allegedly amended the provisions of Section 2 of the NDDC Act by appointing the Niger Delta Minister, Niger Delta Ministry and the Permanent Secretary in the ministry as governing board members of the commission without amending the law to accommodate them.
He added that in carrying out the unconstitutional fiat, Umana and the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs wrote a letter to the NDDC, seeking to interfere and usurp the powers of the board on August 8, 2022, by requesting for personnel audit and bio-data of the commission.
The plaintiff also averred that Umana, the ministry and its Permanent Secretary inaugurated a committee on the compressive staff audit of the NDDC via a letter, dated August 15, 2022.
He added that Umana, on August 17, issued directives on the day-to-day running of the NDDC, contrary to the clear position of the law.
Ekengba prayed the court to restrain the defendants from further interfering or issuing directives to the management and workers of the NDDC, arguing that doing so violates Section 4 of the 1999 Constitution, among others.
On why he sued, Ekengba, who claimed to be an indigene of Imo State, said s a stakeholder, he was affected by the mismanagement of the NDDC.
He denied being sponsored by anybody or group, insisting that as a lawyer, it was incumbent on him to ensure that the Constitution is complied with by all.
