Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday returned the case file of detained self-styled Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), Adeniyi Adeyemi, to the Chief Judge of the Court, Justice John Tsoho, for reassignment to another judge.
The matter concerns a fundamental rights enforcement suit in which Adeyemi is challenging his detention without trial and seeking bail pending the determination of the case.
The court declined to proceed with the hearing after determining that the 72-hour period earlier given to the respondents to show cause why Adeyemi’s remaining requests should not be granted had not elapsed.
The suit had been scheduled before Justice Egwuatu for the respondents to respond to Adeyemi’s application. Counsel for the applicant, Mr Muhammad Abdulaziz, informed the court that the respondents had been duly served and that his client was ready to proceed. Counsel for the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mercy Akeredolu, was absent, as were the other respondents.
Abdulaziz told the court: “As ordered on Wednesday, all the respondents have been duly served and we are ready to proceed.” The registrar confirmed that the order was served on the respondents on September 8, while the hearing notice was served on September 9.
Justice Egwuatu questioned the timing of the service, noting that the 72-hour window had not expired. He also raised concerns about the competence of the proof of service for the hearing notice, asking whether it had been properly sworn before a commissioner for oaths.
The judge held that the respondents were yet to exhaust the period granted to them to show cause. “Well, in any case, the 72 hours has not expired. And yesterday, you told me it will expire today and that was why I fixed today. You know the urgency of your matter, you are the one to do the needful,” he said.
Justice Egwuatu thereafter directed that the case file be returned to the registry for reassignment and instructed the applicant to return once the respondents’ time had expired and the matter was ready to proceed.
The development follows an earlier order by the court directing the Inspector-General of Police, the Nigeria Police Force and the Attorney-General of the Federation to show cause within 72 hours why Adeyemi’s remaining reliefs should not be granted. The court had already granted one of the reliefs, ordering the authorities to allow Adeyemi access to lawyers of his choice at reasonable hours while in custody.
Adeyemi sought six reliefs in total, including orders for his release from custody, bail pending determination of the case, access to medical practitioners of his choice, and a restraint on the police from interrogating him or taking his statement without his lawyer present. The court declined to grant the substantive reliefs on an ex parte basis, insisting that the respondents first be given an opportunity to respond.
Adeyemi was arrested in Osun State in July after the Federal High Court in Abuja issued a bench warrant over his repeated failure to appear for arraignment. He faces an eight-count charge bordering on alleged forgery, fraud and impersonation in connection with his claim to be Director-General of the PFIPC, an organisation the Presidency has described as “fake.”
He is expected to be arraigned on September 30, pursuant to an earlier order by Justice Mohammed Umar directing security agencies to arrest him and produce him in court.