AWKA — AN Awka High Court presided over by Justice C. E. Iyizoba has struck out a suit instituted against Anambra State Government by the governorship candidate of Nigeria Advance Party (NAP) in the April 19, 2003 elections, Mr. Ifeanyi Okonkwo, questioning spendings of the last state government. The judge dismissed the suit as "obviously unsustainable, unarguable, academic, futile and overtaken by events." The suit number A/251/2000 challenged the constitutionality of the Anambra State year 2000 SupplementaryAppropriation Law Number 10 hurriedly passed by the State House of Assembly on December 29, 2000.
Okonkwo had gone to court, praying the court to determine the constitutionality of the Supplementary Appropriation Law Number 10 of 2000 upon which the whopping sum of N3.585 billion was withdrawn from the coffers of the state on December 29, 2000, the last working day of the year. The plaintiff (Okonkwo) had in the suit described as "illegal and unconstitutional," the manner the government of Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju "procured the Anambra State House of Assembly to pass into law a Supplementary Appropriation Bill, 2000 amounting to N3.585 billion," saying that it was a breach of section 120(2) to (4) of the 1999 constitution. The plaintiff urged the court to declare that Appropriation Law unconstitutional, that the House of Assembly acted ultra vires by passing the said law, that the government and the House of Assembly flagrantly breached the 1999 constitution and that they violated their oath of office, and that the withdrawal of the sum of N3.585 billion from government coffers was illegal.
He also argued that the action of the House in making the controversial law to take retrospective effect without authority was illegal. Giving the judgement, Justice Iyizoba said "it is obvious that the plaintiff conceives his claim as a form of private prosecution of the pubic funds to the tune of N3.585 billion. Nothing useful can be achieved by going into the merits of the plaintiff’s allegation of stealing when it is obvious that the accused persons are not prosecuted by originating summons and affidavit evidence, prosecution of offenders is by the process complaint to the police, police investigation/arrest, the filing of criminal charges, the taking of plea by accused persons, and full criminal trial marked by oral evidence of witnesses who are subjected to cross-examination."
The unconstitutionality of the plaintiffs claim is borne out by the fact that the plaintiff expects the court to make a finding that certain defendants stole public funds to the tune of N3.585 billion and on the basis of that finding of guilt compel or direct Inspector-General to prosecute the offenders. "What is the value of this order against the IGP and the Attorney-General when the court must have made a finding of guilt? There would be nothing again to investigate and prosecute. "The claim in this suit concerned the last administration in the State headed by Governor Mbadinuju.
That administration having lost power and having been replaced with current Governor Ngige administration, it would be academic and futile to revisit the acts of that administration when the dramatis personae are no longer in office to contest the allegation made against them by the plaintiff in this case. It is therefore academic for this court to consider the issues raised by the parties in their written addresses, such as the plaintiff’s locus standi or lack of it, the impropriety and by originating summons, etc. The position would have been different if I had not made a finding that this suit is overtaken by event. In the circumstance, I hold that this suit deserves to be put to an end or terminated by summary procedure. It is hereby struck out".
But not satisfied with the judgment, Okonkwo had since appealed against the decision of the Awka HighCourt, alleging that it was a miscarriage of justice. He argued that the case being an Originating Summons to determine the constitutionality of the 2000 Appropriation law, the court has the power to determine the case without limited time.Okonkwo said in his appeal that the court erred in law by saying that the suit was limited to the government of Dr Chinwoke Mbadinuju. He said that the issue at stake is the constitutionality of theAnambra State Appropriation law 2000 upon which the sum of N3.585billion of Anambra State people was deducted from the purse and spent frivolously. No date has been fixed for the hearing of the appeal.
