Why Court Ordered Continuation of Dino Melaye's Recall, Insists on Sack Process from Senate by INEC

 

TORI News had reported earlier today that Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court in Abuja this Monday morning, dismissed the suit by Kogi West Senator, Dino Melaye, challenging the validity the process of recalling him by his constituents who ordered that the Independent National Electoral Commission “shall proceed with the recall process”.

 

The presiding judge, Nnamdi Dimgba, who directed that the recall process should continue, after deciding that the application lacked merit, ruled that the electorate whose petition resulted in the recall had a right to request the removal of their senator from office since they are the ones who “gifted the position of the said office” to Melaye.

 

Dimgba said; “The electorate voted the senator into office, they gifted him the office and they have the right to take back what they gifted.

 

According to Premium Times, the court judge who cited electoral laws of the United States, added that the law does mandate the electorate to exhibit its right of franchise, “only in good fate.”

 

The court also decided that INEC was not under any obligation to inform Mr Melaye of its decision to recall him.

 

 

Dimgba said the allegation of fraud and fictitious signatures had already been settled by “the constitutional provision of INEC to verify the signatories.”

“I, therefore, hold that the complaint brought before the court were hasty, premature and presumptuous,” said Mr Dimgba.

 

He added that the makers of the constitution included the provision for the removal of a senator, despite “inherent dangers.” He said that in developed countries like the United States, such a provision is not included in the constitution so that it could be misused by certain political actors.

 

Dimgba noted that “the court only has the powers to interpret the laws as they are.”

 

According to the judge, Melaye’s allegation of lack of fair hearing cannot be treated in the court because the constitution has already provided an internal process inherent in INEC’s recall procedure for Melaye to determine whether he would be granted a fair hearing on not.

 

He added that unless Melaye exhausts the internal mechanism provided by law, he cannot complain of being denied a fair hearing.

 

Dimbga further said that the 188,588 voters who reportedly signed the petitions against the lawmaker were in conformity with the constitutional requirement for over half of the registered 360,100 voters who registered for the election in Kogi-west constituency.

 

The judge also noted that the recall timetable provided in court had indicated clearly that Melaye would be given a chance to defend himself during the process, adding that any further right of hearing, required by Mr. Melaye would be “between himself and his voters whom he has a right to explain himself to.”

 

‎Justice Dimbga, however, noted that the complaint brought by INEC against Melaye’s motion was invalid, stressing that “the motion was duly filed according to the rules of court.”

 

He added that although the constitution does not specify that INEC must provide Mr. Melaye with the details of the recall before commencing with the process, it also did not state that it should inform the Senator ‘at all.’

“The defendant, however, informed the senator and rightly so, because it is in conformity with the natural law of justice,” said Dimgba.

 

The judge also queried the failure of INEC to include the details of the petition, when it eventually informed Mr. Melaye about the recall, wondering how the electoral body “expects Mr Melaye to defend himself.”

 

The judge subsequently ordered that a copy of the petition, the signatories to the said petition, as well as the supporters of the recall process be made available to the applicant within two weeks before the next amended date of commencement’ of the recall.

 

The court decided that the 90-day benchmark for the referendum on Melaye’s removal from office would continue from Monday, September 11.