The Federal Government of Nigeria has been dragged to court
by a constitutional lawyer, and former President of the Nigeria Bar
Association, NBA, Olisa Agbakoba for alleged negligence of the Igbo-occupied
South Eastern part of the country.
Agbakoba is also demanding N1trillion in the fundamental
human rights suit filed before a Federal High Court for himself and on behalf
of the South East Zone over alleged acts of discrimination and underdevelopment
of the region.
In the suit brought in pursuant to section 42 of the 1999
constitution, the lawyer is further asking the court for an order of perpetual
injunction restraining the Federal Government and its agents, servants or
privies, or otherwise howsoever from further acts of discrimination against the
applicant or any member of the Group/Class represented in the civil action.
Besides, the applicants are also claiming a whopping sum of
N1trillion from the Federal Government as general damages to be shared among
the five states of the South-East geo-political zone.
The suit is praying the court to “declare that the
structural composition of the states in Nigeria, in this distribution:
North-West, Seven States; North-Central, Six States; North-East, Six States;
South-West, Six States; South-South, Six States; and South-East, Five States;
creates a structural imbalance against the applicant and the Group/Class he
represents to their political and economic disadvantage in federal legislative representation,
ministerial/political and judicial appointments, and revenue allocation
contrary to Section 14(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria 1999, which requires reflection of federal character in conduct of
public affairs, and accordingly a violation of Section 42 of the Constitution
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, which prohibits discrimination against
the applicant and the Group/Class represented based on Ethnic Grouping and
place of origin.”
In an originating summons supported by an affidavit of 99
paragraphs and a statement of claim, the applicants rooted their action on the
ground of alleged total neglect of the applicant’s geo-political zone by the
Federal Government in terms of infrastructure and general federal presence
making the region feel not part of the Federal Government (1st Respondent).
It is equally demanding the creation of two more states in
the South-East geopolitical zone to balance with the seven states in the
North-West.
The suit is also asking the Federal High Court for an order
directing the Federal Government to forthwith, “prepare and send to the
National Assembly for enactment, a bill to establish the South-East Development
Commission (SEDC) and for ancillary matters, which body shall be charged with
the execution of the said master plan and the general development of the
South-East geo-political zone.”
Other grounds upon which the action was filed is the alleged
abandonment of the Niger Bridge to collapse and failure to build the ‘Second
Niger Bridge’ making the applicants feel isolated from other parts of 1st
Respondent and causing them apprehension about disaster on crossing the
existing bridge.
They cited the abandonment of federal roads, which are death
traps and robbery baits and occasioning and constraining on the applicants’
grueling road journeys within the geo-political zone as another reason for the
suit.
It is their contention that the failure to develop strategic
new roads especially the Anam-Nzam federal road linking the South-East with the
North-Central at Idah in Kogi State to give the applicants easy access to the
northern part of Nigeria is discriminatory.
The grounds of the suit also include failure to exploit the
Oil/Gas Reserves in Anambra Basin and stalling the applicants’ legitimate
expectation from employment and derivation funds for development of the
Applicant’s South-East Zone.
The applicants further cited the abandonment of the Enugu
Colliery and depriving them legitimate expectation from employment and
derivation funds for the development of the South-East zone as grounds of their
action.
In addition, they also pointed out the failure to develop
trade-friendly ports and customs policies and establish ‘ease-of-business’
platforms to assist the applicants’ trading brothers and sisters to do better
and operate on a higher and modern scale in trading, which makes the applicants
to spend money to support relatives.
The suit further raised concern over ”the failure to have an
operational international cargo airport at Owerri to aid trading, which causes
the applicants to spend huge sums of money to support trading relatives to haul
airborne goods by road from Lagos, with the attendant risks.
”The failure to dredge the Lower Niger and establish a Port
at Onitsha to aid trading which causes the applicants to spend huge sums of
money to support trading relatives to haul seaborne goods by road from Port
Harcourt or Lagos, with the attendant risks, has also prompted the action of
the applicants.
”Low revenue allocation status on the South-East Zone as a
result of failure to exploit Oil/Gas and Coal and as a result of the said
structural imbalance is adduced as a ground for the suit.
Among other declarations sought, they want the court, to
declare that the worsening menace of erosion in the South-East zone generally
and in particular in Agulu, Nanka and Obosi in Anambra State, under the watch
and neglect of the 1st Respondent, who responds to similar or less-threatening
ecological problems in other Zones with dispatch and commitment, is
discriminatory and a violation of the fundamental right of the applicant and
the Group/Class represented guaranteed under Section 42 of the Constitution of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999.
It is also their prayer that the court should make an order
directing the 1st Respondent to “take immediate steps to check the excessively
aggressive and nefarious, yet ineffective policing of the South-East
Geopolitical Zone and putting an end to the extortion going on at the
ubiquitous police check-points on the highways in the South-East Geopolitical
Zone.”
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