EX- AGF AONDOAKAA FACES FRESH SUIT OVER 2027 GOVERNORSHIP BID
By Our Correspondent
ABUJA — Former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Michael Kaase Aondoakaa, SAN, is facing a fresh legal challenge over his reported ambition to contest the 2027 Benue State governorship election.
Four Benue indigenes — David A. Ejembi, Aondoaver Teryila, Joseph Okpanachi and Benedict Akaazua Orkume — have instituted a suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja, against the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Aondoakaa.
In the originating summons, the plaintiffs are asking the court to determine whether, in view of previous decisions of the Supreme Court concerning Aondoakaa, he can lawfully contest for another public office.
The plaintiffs are relying particularly on the Supreme Court judgment which, according to their written address, barred Aondoakaa from assuming any other public office apart from the office of Attorney-General and Minister of Justice which he previously held.
The fresh suit has brought renewed attention to Aondoakaa’s controversial tenure as the nation’s chief law officer during the administration of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
Aondoakaa served as Attorney-General and Minister of Justice under Yar’Adua at a period when the country was plunged into a constitutional crisis following the President’s prolonged absence from Nigeria on medical grounds.
The crisis centred on the refusal to formally transmit presidential powers to then Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan, leaving the country without a clear constitutional transfer of power.
As Attorney-General, Aondoakaa was among those who maintained that there was no constitutional vacuum and that the Vice-President could continue to perform certain presidential functions without the formal invocation of the constitutional procedure for transferring power.
His position attracted strong criticism from legal practitioners and other stakeholders who argued that the constitutional provisions required Yar’Adua to transmit a written declaration to the National Assembly before Jonathan could formally assume the functions of Acting President.
The controversy persisted until the National Assembly, on February 9, 2010, passed a resolution recognising Jonathan as Acting President.
Jonathan subsequently removed Aondoakaa from the Justice Ministry and redeployed him to the Ministry of Special Duties.
The current legal action, however, centres principally on a subsequent judicial finding concerning Aondoakaa’s conduct while serving as Attorney-General.
According to the written address filed in support of the originating summons, the Supreme Court made what the plaintiffs described as “damning findings” against the former minister and held that, having regard to his conduct in office, he should not be entrusted with another public office.
The document quotes the apex court as describing it as “highly reprehensible” for the Chief Law Officer of the Federation to counsel disobedience to a judgment, particularly a judgment from which there was no further right of appeal.
The plaintiffs are therefore asking the Federal High Court to determine whether the Supreme Court’s decision effectively prevents Aondoakaa from seeking the office of governor of Benue State in 2027.
They are also seeking orders against INEC and the PDP in relation to his candidacy.
The suit, filed in the Abuja Judicial Division of the Federal High Court, has opened a fresh legal front around Aondoakaa’s reported return to elective politics.
The case is pending before the court, which will determine the legal effect of the earlier Supreme Court judgment on his eligibility to contest the 2027 governorship election.
