Court of Appeal overturns high court ruling on El-Rufai

Former FCT Minister, Nasir El-Rufai

A Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, Monday, set aside a 2010 judgment of a Federal High Court which threw out Nasir El-Rufai’s fundamental human rights enforcement suit against the Senate.

In a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of judges, the appellate court directed the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court to appoint another judge to hear the suit.

Mr. El-Rufai, a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, had filed a suit in August 2008 challenging the decisions and recommendations of a Senate Committee established to hold investigative public hearings on the affairs of the FCT between 1999 and 2007.

Muyiwa Adekeye, Mr. El-Rufai’s Media Adviser, said that the hearings essentially targeted his principal.

“That committee invited El Rufai as a witness and not as a defendant,” Mr. Adekeye said in a statement on Monday.

“But in its report, the committee went ahead to recommend punishment and other sanctions against El Rufai without making available to him the petitions against him, or placing before him any instances of violations of the law for his response.

“By acting in this prejudicial manner, the Senate committee, and eventually the entire Senate in accepting the committee’s recommendations, had violated El Rufai’s constitutionally guaranteed rights,” Mr. Adekeye added.

In 2008, Mr. El-Rufai approached the Federal High Court, Abuja, to defend and uphold his rights. He sued the Senate and five other parties – the Senate president; Abubakar Sodangi, then a Senator; the Clerk of the National Assembly; the Minister of the FCT; and the Attorney-General of the Federation.

In the ensuing suit, the respondents told the court that the former minister’s legal action came too late because it was not filed within three months of “the commencement of the breach,” as required by the Public Officers Protection Act.

The respondents also stated that they are public officers and are, therefore, protected by the Act against such actions.

On March 11, 2010, Justice M.G. Umar ruled that the substantive case was not a violation of Mr. El-Rufai’s fundamental rights, deciding that it was “statute-barred.”

Bamidele Aturu, Mr. El-Rufai’s counsel, lodged an appeal at the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal in April 2010.

On Monday, the appellate court unanimously decided that the judge of the lower court erred in ruling that any statute is capable of abridging fundamental rights. The superior court thus, allowed the appeal and directed that the suit be remitted back to another judge of the Federal High Court to hear the substantive suit.

Reacting to the appellate court’s decision, Mr. El-Rufai described the judgment as another contribution to human rights jurisprudence in the country.

“We are gratified that the Court of Appeal saw through attempts by public officers to avoid responsibility for their abuse of the rights of citizens using various stratagems,” Mr. El-Rufai added.