•Bars police from arresting Jaja, awards N2m damages
Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt
A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, the state capital, has nullified the arrest order issued by the Rivers State House of Assembly towards the Vice-Chancellor of PAMO University of Medical Sciences, Prof. Smith Jaja.
The court docket described the meeting’s investigative motion as a sham.
The court docket, presided over by Justice Frank Onyiri, additionally issued a perpetual injunction restraining the meeting, the police and different safety companies from interfering with the basic rights of the college don.
In addition, the court docket awarded N2 million in damages towards the meeting, and in favour of Jaja.
Delivering judgment on Friday in a elementary rights enforcement swimsuit instituted by Jaja towards the Assembly, Justice Onyiri held that the meeting acted outdoors its constitutional powers in its try to research the applicant’s employer.
The choose faulted the meeting’s choice to represent an advert hoc committee purportedly below Section 128 of the 1999 Constitution, noting that the 2026 Appropriation Act had already been handed and signed into legislation earlier than the committee was established.
He declared null and void the meeting’s choice to arrest Jaja for failing to seem earlier than its advert hoc committee on September 25, 2026.
Justice Onyiri maintained that the legislature had no constitutional authority to indict people or decide their guilt, stressing that its investigative powers below Section 128 have been restricted to gathering proof for constitutionally recognised legislative functions.
The court docket additional affirmed Jaja’s entitlement to the safety of his elementary rights below the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
The perpetual injunction successfully bars the Assembly and safety companies from taking any motion that will infringe on the applicant’s protected rights in reference to the matter.
The judgment, which lasted roughly 90 minutes, was delivered after arguments by counsel to the events, Dr C.A.J. Chinwo and M.S. Agu, who represented E.C. Ukala (SAN).
Both legal professionals reportedly counseled the court docket for what they described as an erudite judgment.
