The Federal High Court, sitting in Lagos and presided over by Hon Justice P.O. Life today summoned the House of Assembly of Ogun State, OGHA, to show cause within three days, why the Assembly should not be restrained from proceeding with the case of or setting the law against the former Managing Director of Ogun State Property Investment Corporation, OPIC, Mr. Jide Odusolu. It will be recalled that Ogun State House of Assembly, during its plenary proceedings on September 21, 2012, had purported to adopt the report of its Committee on Anti-Corruption and Public Accounts, which claimed to have investigated the finances of OPIC and huge sums of money are missing from OPIC accounts.

Mr. Jide Odusolu had filed a suit before the Federal High Court, against the Inspector-General of Police, the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 2, the Commissioner of Police in Ogun State and the Ogun State House of Assembly and the Attorney-General of Ogun State as respondents. In the said suit, Mr. Odusolu sought declarations that the proceedings of OGHA and the report of the Committee which it purportedly adopted constitute an infringement on his fundamental right to fair hearing, that Ogun State House of Assembly lacks the competence to investigate alleged crime, that the Chairman of the Committee that purported to investigate OPIC funds was himself an interested party who served together with Mr. Odusolu in the previous administration and even inspected some OPIC projects which he now claims have not been executed. Mr. Odusolu also sought an order of injunction to restrain the Assembly from deploying the report to initiate any criminal complaint against him before the police and to restrain the police from acting on the said report pending the hearing and final determination of the suit pending in court.

In a 40 paragraph affidavit deposed to by Mr. Odusolu himself, he traced the series of projects executed by OPIC, that the accounts of OPIC have been audited by professionals and no fund is missing at all. He stated further that he was being persecuted by the Committee and some Assembly members. The suit was filed on his behalf by human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN with Triple A Chambers.

The reliefs sought in the case by Mr. Odusolu are as follows:

“A. A DECLARATION that the Applicant is entitled to his liberty and freedom to move freely, within Lagos State or any part of Nigeria, without let or hindrance from the Respondents, their servants, agents, officers or otherwise howsoeverin exercise of the Applicant’s fundamental rights guaranteed under sections 35 and 41 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 and Articles 6 and 12 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, Cap. 10, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.