VAPP Law: Court Insists on Hearing Competency of Suit Before OF Summoning Former Grand Khadi

 VAPP Law: Court Insists on Hearing Competency of Suit Before OF Summoning Former Grand Khadi

     

   'IT'S TIME TO BRING FALANA, AGBAKOBA,, AND OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYERS'

 _FRM LG CHAIRMAN REACTS AS HE REVEALS HE WAS INVITED TO AN EMERGENCY MEETING AT THE SHARI'A COURT TODAY._ 

VAPP Law: Court Insists on Hearing Competency of Suit Before OF Summoning Former Grand Khadi

The Chief Magistrate M. F. Adebola, yesterday said she could not summon the retired grand Khadi, S.O. Mohammed until her court is addressed on the competency of the case.

This was at the point when the complainant, a former TIC Chairman of Ilorin West Local Government, Hon. Abdul-Hameed Oladipupo Alli (Mr. Nigeria)asked her why the defendant, a retired grand Khadi, Hon. Justice S. O. Mohammed was not served a court summons.

The Chief Magistrate later asked the complainant if he would be able to address the court on the competency of the case or if he would like to consult his lawyers to do so. The complainant, after discovering that the Magistrate was not prepared to accept his submission that there is no law that prevents a defendant from being summoned by the court based on addressing the competence of the case, reluctantly agreed to allow his counsels to make the address as requested by the court.

The matter was however adjourned till 19th October 2022.

Meanwhile, the complainant has reacted to the court decision having requested for Certified True Copy (CTC) of the court session's proceedings to enable him to present it to his counsels ahead of the adjourned date.

The letter titled: REQUEST FOR CTC OF PROCEEDINGS, partly reads '... This is to apply for CTC of today's proceedings in the case between Hon. Abdul-Hameed Oladipupo  Alli And Hon. Justice S. O. Muhammed (RTD), before Her Worship, Chief Magistrate M.F. Adebola.

This is to enable me present to the duo of FEMI FALANA, SAN, and Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, among other Human Rights Activists to step into the matter before the court and others in three other Courts in which no lawyer in Ilorin is ready to continue with due to intimidation from the parties involved even after collecting Legal fees from me since the matter has been in various courts since 2019.

I do not doubt that it is only these top Human Rights Lawyers and their team from outside the state that could address the request of the Chief Magistrate Adebola to be addressed on the competency of the case before she could issue Summons on the defendant....'

The Original copy of the letter was received by the Court Registrar Mrs. Adebayo, immediately after the proceedings of 28 September 2022.

Hon. Alli, said further that he knows that 'It is a settled principle of law, as has been held in a plethora of cases that, service of a court process is a condition precedent to the exercise of jurisdiction by a court over a litigant. The non-service of a process, therefore, renders such process and all subsequent proceedings incompetent, how then will a court determine the competency of a suit before issuing a summons to the defendant? I know that even in the case of trying competency of a defendant in criminal matters, it is the defendant's counsel that will move a motion for competency which would subject the defendant to psychiatric tests, etc to prove his incompetence and this must be after the issuance of properly served summons. With the situation on the ground, it shows that the retired Grand KHADI is not officially aware that he has been dragged to court. He should be served first and be left to prove his incompetency as the law provides. It is the second term the Kwara state Magistrate Court would refused summon the defendants in my case because of the defendant's familial relationship with the Chief Judge of the State and his second in command.

Reacting to the proceeding, some legal luminaries contacted commended the former council chairman for his boldness and initiative to ask for the court proceedings of that day which will form the basis of their reaction from the

 legal perspective because they are yet to see where in Nigeria's constitution did the court rely its decision not to summon a defendant until a complainant prove the competency of his application on. The day's proceeding will definitely contain the section of the law that covers her decision in this regard, which they unanimously submitted.

The complainant further revealed that ' later this morning(29/9/22), I will be attending an emergency meeting at the Shariah Court of Appeal. I will honour the invitation I got via a telephone call from the litigations office yesterday and till this moment, I keep wondering why the Panel handling a pending Appeal before it will request for my presence when in actual fact it has adjourned to continue hearing my substantive matter before it until after its resumption from vacation in October 2022. Nevertheless, I have made wide consultations across the board and I have been advised to honor the invitation which I would do Insha Allah, and keep all posted with the development '.

Hon. Alli, thanks all those who have been showing concern over his travails in the hands of the judiciary through their phone calls and personal visits, for their love and concern.