Human rights activist and Concerned Nigerians’ Convener, Deji Adeyanju, has initiated legal action against the Minister of Arts, Culture, and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa.
This move is coming amidst controversies surrounding Musawa’s National Youth Service Corps membership while she received an appointed to President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet.
Joining Adeyanju in this legal endeavour are prominent activists Chief Patrick Eholor and Barrister Samuel Ihensekhien. They contend that Musawa’s dual roles as an NYSC member and a federal minister of Nigeria are incompatible.
The trio, on Wednesday, lodged the lawsuit, registered as suit No FHC/ABJ/CS/1198/2023, at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Their legal challenge concerns the perceived “illegality of the appointment of Hannatu Musawa as a federal minister.”
This was contained in a statement released alongside the court documents to Vanguard.
The statement read, “It is now unequivocally clear, based on the authoritative pronouncements of the Supreme Court in the 2019 Modibbo vs. Usman case, that a Youth Corps member lacks the competence to contest any election in Nigeria or engage in partisan politics, as exemplified by Mrs. Hanaatu Musawa in this instance.
“We wish to inform the general public and concerned Nigerians that veteran activists Deji Adeyanju, Chief Patrick Eholor, and Samuel Ihensekhien have filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of Hannatu Musawa’s appointment as a federal minister.”
The statement further points out that someone like Hannatu Musawa, who assumes the role of a federal minister of Nigeria without completing the mandatory one-year youth service, does not meet the qualifications stipulated by the Constitution for appointment to the position of Minister.
The Constitution delineates identical qualifications and disqualifications for election to the House of Representatives and appointment as a Minister.
The filed suit seeks five distinct reliefs and ancillary or mandatory consequential injunctions related to this matter. The lawsuit highlights the activists’ determination to address what they perceive as a legal and procedural anomaly in the appointment of Minister Hannatu Musawa.
