A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered the House of Representatives to refrain from inviting the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke to appear before it for the purpose of investigation or probe until the third of July when the court is expected to hear the substantive suit filed by the minister.
At the resumed hearing of the suit, Justice Ahmed Mohammed made the order following complaints by Lawyer to the Minister, Mr Etigwe Uwa that the House of Representatives has invited the Minister to appear before its Public Accounts Committee between the June 25 to 27 despite the suit pending at a court of law.
The Minister and the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had approached the Federal High Court in Abuja for an interlocutory injunction to stop the Senate and the House of Representatives from summoning them for the purposes of giving evidence or producing any documents which relate to the official records pending the determination of the substantive suit.
In an application filled by the plaintiff’s counsel, Etigwe Uwa, the Minister is asking the court for an order to maintain status quo pending the final determination of the matter on allegation of N10 billion allegedly spent on the charter of air crafts.
They contended that the Senate and House of Representatives could not investigate criminal matters not pending in the court of law.
