A Federal High Court, Abuja, yesterday, adjourned hearing of N8.1 billion suit in an alleged illegal seizure of property filed by a retired army general, Alhaji Abdulrauf Tijjani, against the Lagos State Government and seven others.
Tijjani had sued the Lagos State government, National Judicial Council (NJC), and the other respondents before Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court challenging injustice perpetrated against him by Lagos State officials and a judge of the Federal High Court.
Specifically, he is challenging the alleged sabotage of the execution of a court judgment, which ordered the return of his landed property in Lagos to him.
Justice Ekwo had last week adjourned commencement of hearing after ordering the plaintiff to serve court papers on all respondents in the suit.
However, when the matter was mentioned, counsel to the second and fourth respondents (Federal High Court and Justice A. O. Faji), asked for time to respond to the allegations.
Following no objection to the plaintiff’s applications, Justice Ekwo adjourned hearing to Friday, July 17 and ordered the parties to file and exchange necessary court processes.
He asked all parties to put their house in order, warning that none of them should do anything to jeopardise the hearing on the next adjourned date.
Tijjani prayed Justice Ekwo to order Lagos State Government to pay him a cumulative compensation of N8b as damages for the injustice he had suffered.
In the suit with marked FHC/ABJ/CS/690/2020, he is also asking the judge to compel the NJC to pay him another N100m for what he described as Justice Faji’s misconduct during the hearing of his case.
In addition, the plaintiff also asked the court for an order for the trail of Justice Faji for allegedly perverting the course of justice in his case.
In a 19-paragraph affidavit in support of the suit, the plaintiff pointed out that a former Attorney General of Lagos State, Abdulraheem Ade Ipaye, now Deputy Chief of Staff (CoS) to the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, allegedly coveted and converted his landed property in Shasha-Akonwonjo Area, Alimosho Council Area of Lagos State to his personal gain.
He held that as a result, he approached the court and got judgment in his favour on January 31, 2014, but added that the judgment could not be executed due to alleged sabotage of Lagos State officials.
The plaintiff claimed that his case got worse when his counsel, Kasheem Adeniji (SAN) was appointed Attorney General of Lagos State and subsequently became an interested party in the matter.
He further affirmed that following the appointment of Adeniji as Lagos AG, he disengaged from his law firm, adding that he (Adeniji) turned against him by frustrating the case.
He is, therefore, seeking the court intervention to restore justice and grant him the reliefs sought.
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