Suit praying for Ekweremadu’s sack adjourned till November 9

A Federal High Court in Enugu has adjourned the hearing on a motion to expel Senator Ike Ekweremadu, the former Deputy President of the Senate, until November 9, 2022.

The former deputy Senate President and his wife Beatrice are accused of conspiring to arrange or enable another person’s travel for the purpose of exploitation, specifically organ harvesting.

The pair was detained by the London Metropolitan Police in June, and they appeared in court in July.

The UK Court trial timetable indicated that the senator’s trial would commence on May 28, 2023, while Ekweremadu’s wife was granted bail on July 22.

In suit number: FHC/EN/CS/171/22, between Chief Ogochukwu Onyema vs Senator Ahmed Lawan, the Senate, Ekweremadu, INEC and the PDP, the applicant dragged Ekweremadu to court, seeking a declaration of Ekweremadu’s Senate seat vacant and in turn declare him the next in line to assume the seat.

Onyema, who ran against Ekweremadu in the PDP Senate primary in 2018, brought a request to amend the original summons to the hearing of the case on Wednesday in Enugu.

The runner-up in the primary election, who the plaintiff had previously claimed was dead, was the subject of the change, it was learnt. He rushed to the court, however, saying that the plaintiff was mistaken in thinking he had passed away.

However, the court was unable to consider the application because only Ekweremadu’s lawyer, Ogochukwu Onyekwuluje, was present out of the seven respondents.

Justice Umar Mohammed Garba, the presiding court, therefore decided to postpone the case until November 9 in order to give everyone time to be served as well as to consider a motion for regularisation.

Speaking to reporters, Onyema claimed that his plan to remove Ekweremadu from the Senate was not an attempt to persecute the man but rather to fulfill his desire to serve as the senator representing his people.

“I don’t want to dive into that”, Onyema remarked in response to the discovery that the guy who finished second in the 2018 primaries that elected Ekweremadu was not deceased as claimed in his affidavit.