• Younger legal professionals tasked to embrace Public Curiosity Litigation to combat corruption in govt
A Rivers State Excessive Courtroom sitting in Port Harcourt has adjourned the listening to of a go well with filed by a former All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate within the 2015 Home of Meeting election in Port Harcourt Constituency 3, Chima Nnokam, and 4 others, until October 15, 2025. Nnokam, within the go well with, is urging the courtroom to declare the August 30 native council election as unconstitutional.
The claimants of their originating summons in opposition to the Rivers State Unbiased Electoral Fee (RSIEC), Lawyer Common of Rivers State and two monetary establishments are looking for declarations that the brand new RSIEC Chairman and members had been unlawfully appointed, due to this fact, weren’t competent to conduct the election.
They’re additionally looking for the declaration that the fee’s council elections had been illegal and liable to be put aside on account of non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
They additional requested the courtroom to restrain the 2 monetary establishments from disbursing funds belonging to the RSIEC, urging the courtroom to put aside all actions taken by the RSIEC Chairman, Mr Michael Odey.
The claimants, of their reliefs, additionally sought a consequential order of injunction restraining the defendants from parading themselves as members and chairman of RSIEC.
Through the listening to, counsel for the first to ninth defendants from Afe Babalola’s Chambers claimed their workplace wasn’t absolutely briefed and lacked a duplicate of the processes.
Whereas the counsel for the applicant, Cindy Babalola, had earlier instructed the courtroom that regardless of serving different defendants with courtroom processes, none had responded.
Nevertheless, the courtroom initially prompt resuming the case on September 12, however the defendants’ counsel requested extra time to reply to the processes, resulting in the presiding Choose, Justice Stephen Jumbo, adjourning the listening to until October 15.
MEANWHILE, younger legal professionals in Nigeria have been charged to embrace Public Curiosity Litigations (PIL) to step up fights for accountability and transparency in authorities.
Public Curiosity Litigations (PIL) is the usage of the authorized system to advertise causes and rights of public significance, reminiscent of environmental safety, human rights and social justice, typically on behalf of teams who can’t afford authorized illustration themselves.
Human rights lawyer, Festus Ogun, gave the cost in Port Harcourt on the Strategic and Public Curiosity Litigation Lab (Litigalab) organised by the Socio-Financial Rights and Accountability Challenge (SERAP) for younger legal professionals and college students.
Ogun said that the accountability of holding leaders accountable rests closely on authorized practitioners, encouraging younger legal professionals to step into the area.
