Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday, January 19, 2023, issued a suit filed in 2019 against President Muhammadu Buhari, Dr. Pius Odubu, and Olorogun Bernard Okumagba, to challenge the appointment of Dr. Pius Odubu and Olorogun Bernard Okumagba are the Chairman and Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in October 2019.
The suit brought by an Abuja-based businesswoman, chief Mrs Rita Lori Ogbebor was dismissed by the Court on the grounds that the plaintiff had no legal standing to bring the case.
The court held that section 2 of the NDDC Act 2000 is very specific, hence legal action for any violation in matters relating to NDDC can only be brought by the company and not by individuals like the plaintiff.
The judge said that the law is clear that the power to file any case to challenge any violation in the NDDC cannot be delegated by proxy to anyone.
Mrs Ogbebor who claims to be a stakeholder of Itsekiri extraction has dragged President Muhammadu Buhari, NDDC, Senate, Dr Pius Odubu, Olorogun Bernard Okumagba, and the Attorney General of the Federation before the court in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1069/2019.
The woman prayed the court to invoke sections 4 and 12 of the NDDC Act to order President Buhari to appoint an indigene of the oil producing areas of Delta State as Chairman, in compliance with section 4.
The plaintiff also prayed for another order compelling Buhari to appoint an indigene Itsekiri from the oil producing area of Delta State as Managing Director of NDDC.
However, the defendants in the lawsuit immediately filed a preliminary objection in 2019 and challenged the plaintiff’s legal right to bring the action.
The defendants argued that section 2 of the NDDC act was so specific that only the company could take action in the event of a breach.
In a judgment delivered on Thursday, January 19, 2023, Judge Ekwo upheld the initial objections of the defendants and stated that the plaintiffs had no legal right to bring the case to court.
Judge Ekwo said that “The consequences of lack of locus standi are dire and the court did not waver when making this statement. It is the law that the statement should be struck out when the plaintiff is found to lack locus standi. I must abide by the law, and I hereby make an order to dismissed the plaintiff’s case”.
It will be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari has forwarded to the Senate to confirm the appointment of the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) through a letter dated October 18, 2019. In the letter to the Senate, the President asked the Senate to confirm Dr Pius Odubu as Chairman and Chief Bernard Okumagba as Managing Director of NDDC along with 14 other Board nominees.
The Senate presented the nomination of the Council and confirmed the appointment on November 5, 2019.