It has become necessary to emphasize the fact that the ORDERS of the Federal High Court, Abuja made on 26th September 2023 remain in force, valid and subsisting.

The various orders of injunction were made pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice. The motion on notice is still pending.

It is not correct that an order of the federal high court automatically expires after fourteen days. This may be the case if the judge that granted the order did not direct otherwise. In this case, the judge directed otherwise by stating that the ORDERS will be in force until the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.

Furthermore, there are two applications filed by the defendants in the suit against the orders of the court, one by the Governor of Ondo State to set aside the orders and the other by the Ondo House of Assembly to stay execution of the orders.

In law, an ex-parte order made pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice remains in force, valid, binding and subsisting until the said motion on notice is heard and determined.

In any event, the pendency of the suits against the impeachment proceedings effectively tie the hands of the defendants from proceeding with or taking any step that may jeopardize the hearing of the cases on the merits. We must learn to respect the rule of law, the authority of the court and due process.

Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN
10/10/2023
Lekki, Lagos.