N10bn jet scandal: Court denies stopping Madueke’s probe

Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court in Abuja, yesterday, denied granting an interim injunction that stopped the Public Accounts Committee, PAC, of the House of Representatives from investigating the Minister of Petroleum Resources,Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, over allegation that she spent N10billion on chartered private jets. 

This was even as the embattled Minister and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, yesterday, told the court that they never served such restraining order on either the House of Reps or the Hon. Solomon Olamilekan led probe Committee.

It will be recalled that the House Committee had suspended its original plans to commence investigation into the matter last Monday, saying it was served with a copy of a restraining order from the High Court.

The restraining order was said to have emanated from a suit with reference number FHC/ABJ/CS/295/2014 which was entered before the Federal High Court on April 11, 2014, by both the Minister and the NNPC.

However, at the resumed sitting on the matter yesterday, the presiding Judge, Justice Mohammed, said he never made such order, saying he only directed both the National Assembly and the House of Reps, who were listed as the 1st and 2nd defendants in the suit, to appear and show cause why he should not stop the probe as the plaintiffs prayed him to do.

The Judge said it was unfortunate that the House of Reps which relied on a nonexistent order and claimed that it was stopped from carrying out its oversight function by the court, failed to enter appearance in the matter yesterday.

Consequently, he directed the House to appear before him on May 5 to explain the origin of the restraining order it said was issued by the court.