THE Federal High Court, Abuja, has fixed September 11 for judgment in the suit filed by Senator Dino Melaye, challenging his planned recall by voters in his constituency. Justice Nnamdi Dimgba fixed the date after listening to arguments from all parties involved in the suit.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had commenced the process to recall Melaye, but the senator wants the court to stop the process. One of the grounds upon which Melaye, who represents Kogi West in the Senate challenged his recall, was that the signatures of some of the voters in the petition were fictitious.

Melaye, who argued his case through his counsel, Mr. Nkem Okoro, said majority of the signatures on the petition were dead people. He added that death certificates were attached to the processes he filed as exhibits to ascertain the veracity of his claim that some of the signatories were deceased.

He also alleged that he was denied fair hearing by both his constituents and INEC. He said: “The petitioners ought to have informed Melaye of the facts and circumstances upon which the alleged loss of confidence was based prior to submission of the petition to INEC.

“INEC upon receipt of the said petition only served Melaye a mere notice that it had received a petition for his recall. So we are challenging INEC’s action. They should have shown a copy of the petition to Melaye and failure to do so amounts to denial of fair hearing and a violation of the laws of natural justice.” – NAN

Aug 11, 2017 @ 1:00 GMT