A Federal High Court in Abuja has set aside the summons of the
House of Representatives on the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs.
Diezani Alison-Madueke, over a proposed probe of her alleged waste of
public funds of chartered jet for unofficial purposes.
Justice Ahmed Mohammed on Wednesday voided the summons in a
judgment in the suit filed by the minister, her ministry and the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to challenge the validity of the
House’s invitation. The minster allegedly spent about N10bn of public fund on charter
and maintenance of an 850 Challenger jet for unofficial purposes.
This informed why the House Committee on Public Accounts had
through letters dated March 26, 2014, summoned her and the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation to appear before it for the purposes of
investigating the allegations.
The judge in his judgment held that that the summons was invalid as
there was no evidence before the court to show that the House
resolution from which the summons emanated was published in the journal
of the Natational Assembly or the official gazette of the Federal
Government of Nigeria.
He held that though the National Assembly had the power to invite
any public officer for the purpose of investigating their activities,
failure to publish the resolution as required under Section 88 of the
Constitution had rendered the summons invalid.
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