A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has granted leave to Egalitarian Mission for Africa, a Civil Society Organisation, to summon the Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly and the personal physician to the Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.
Honourable Justice B. B. Aliyu of Court 6, Federal High Court, Abuja granted the order after listening to the argument of Chief Kayode Ajulo, Esq. counsel to the Plaintiff.
Egalitarian Mission for Africa dragged the Personal Physician to Aregbesola, the Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, The Attorney General of Federation and Minister of Justice, Inspector General of Police and the Director General of State Security Services to the Federal High Court, Abuja over the mental medical examination of the governor.
In an Originating Summons of suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/309/2012, the Plaintiff is praying for the following:
1) A DECLARATION that having regard to the combined provisions of Sections 176, 189, 193 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (AS AMENDED), Section 104 of the Evidence Act, 2011, Section 2 (1), (2) and 16 (3) of the Freedom of Information Act 2011 or any other enabling laws whatsoever, and the circumstances of the documentary evidence annexed thereto, which suggest the medical unfitness of the Governor of Osun State, His Excellency Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola, the Plaintiff is entitled as of right to request for or gain access to information for the purpose of determining state of health of the Governor of Osun State, His Excellency Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola from the 2nd Defendant.
2) A DECLARATION that having regard to the combined provisions of Sections 176, 189, 193 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (AS AMENDED), Section 104, 167 (d.) of the Evidence Act, 2011, Section 2 (1), (2) and 16 (3) of the Freedom of Information Act 2011 or any other enabling laws whatsoever, and the circumstances of the documentary evidence annexed thereto, which suggest the medical unfitness of the Governor of Osun State, His Excellency, Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola, the 2nd Defendant is required to present upon request the Medical Reports of the Governor of Osun State, His Excellency, Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola.
3) A DECLARATION having regard to the combined provisions of Sections 176, 189, 193 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (AS AMENDED), Section 104, 167 (d.) of the Evidence Act, 2011, Section 2 (1), (2) and 16 (3) of the Freedom of Information Act 2011 or any other enabling laws whatsoever, and the circumstances of the documentary evidence annexed thereto, which suggest the medical unfitness of the Governor of Osun State, His Excellency, Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola, the withholding of the requested Medical Reports of the Governor of Osun State, His Excellency, Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola by 2nd Defendant is an admission of the Plaintiff’s suspicion of insanity of the Governor of Osun State, His Excellency, Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola.
4) AN ORDER mandating the 1st Defendant to invoke Section 189(4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (AS AMENDED) and set up a medical panel forthwith to subject the Governor of Osun State, His Excellency, Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola to a medical test of mental nature.
5) AN ORDER mandating the 2nd Defendant to make available to the Plaintiff and any other person or group and/or medical panel for the purpose of determining and investigating the Governor of Osun State’s state of health.
6) A DECLARATION that the 4th, 5th Defendants, and their agents, privies, officers, personnel and whatsoever called who are in sole responsibility of the Governor of Osun State, His Excellency, Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola’s security should allow the medical panel to examine the Governor of Osun State, His Excellency, Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola.
The Originating Summons is supported with 48 paragraphs Affidavit deposed to by Babs Akinwumi, a legal practitioner and the Country Director of the Plaintiff, and six Exhibits.
Among the exhibits are two letters in which the Plaintiff requested for the medical reports of the governor due to what the Plaintiff called the erratic and misguided utterance of the governor against the President, Vice President, a colleague governor and his outburst at National Economic Council in Abuja.
The Plaintiff, as a demonstration, also attached as exhibit President Barrack Obama’s Medical Reports.
The Plaintiff contends in the suit that in pursuant to her aims and objectives and due to the apparent concerns and anxiety over the mental state of health of Aregbesola, he wrote a letter dated March 16, 2012 to the 2nd Defendant, the Personal Physician of the Governor of Osun State, to produce the Medical Report of the governor.
The Plaintiff further avers that despite the receipt of the letter by 2nd Defendant, there was no response to the letter and consequent upon the Personal Physician’s refusal and an obvious concealment of medical history and reports of the governor, the Plaintiff again wrote another letter to the 1st Defendant, the Speaker Osun State House of Assembly, asking the Speaker to set up a panel of medical experts to verify and ascertain whether or not the Governor of Osun State is mentally sound.
The Plaintiff therefore argued that the provision of Sections 182 and 189 of the 1999 Constitution have made it imperative that the Governor’s medical situation must be ascertained and that the court must compel the speaker to set up a Medical Panel to do the medical examination on the governor.
Due to the court vacation, the hearing of the case has been fixed for September 25, 2012.