Amidst leadership tussle in the Abuja Markets Management Limited’s leadership, Faruk Khamagam, lawyer to the supposedly sacked Managing Director, Abubakar Faruk, has urged the Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike to refrain from acting in contempt of court.
This claim was made at a news conference on in Abuja addressed by Mr. Khamagam, the principal attorney of Ruklyn Law Chambers Abuja and counsel to the MD, Mr. Faruk.
The lawyer claimed that the minister has opted to disobey legitimate court decisions and rulings regarding AMML leadership.
He added that his client had no choice but to file a contempt case with the National Industrial Court in November, citing Wike, the Federal Capital Territory Authority, Yakubu Abbas, the Abuja Investment Company Limited, and the former Acting Managing Director of AMML as potential defendants.
He lamented the FCT Minister and other parties involved in the suit heard by the NIC for what he called their ongoing abuse of power, but he also claimed that in the past few weeks, the minister and his allies had taken various actions to prevent the AMML Managing Director in office in defiance of a legitimate court order that ordered his reinstatement.
The decision by the minister to add AMML to the list of heads of agencies requested to resign their positions in a September 27, 2023 press release was further criticized by Faruk’s attorney as being misguided.
He said that the minister put AMML on his list of firms in need of an overhaul of leadership without taking into account the unusual circumstances regarding the agency’s directorship or the legal developments that predated his appointment as the FCT’s minister.
The counsel recalled that on July 10, 2023, the Federal High Court of Nigeria, Abuja Division, delivered judgment in the case he filed on behalf of his client, “in suit number: FHC/ABJ/CS/499/2023- between Alh. Abubakar Usman Faruk vs. Abuja Markets Management Limited & 3 Ors., wherein the court reaffirmed the position and office of client, Alh. Abubakar Usman Faruk as the Managing Director of AMML.
“This was also followed up by another Judgment in Suit number: NICN/ABJ/62/2023 between Alh. Abubakar Usman Faruk vs. Hon. Minister of FCT & 3 Ors., wherein the National Industrial Court also validated the position of our client as the authentic and substantive managing director and chief executive officer of AMML.
He recalled further, that “Despite the subsistence of these judgments and orders, subsequent events have shown total disregard and lack of respect for the judiciary and judicial processes on the parts of FCT Minister, FCT General Counsel, and their foot soldiers including but not limited to Engr. Mohammed Abbas Yakubu, the Commissioner of Police FCT, among others.”
Continuing, he revealed “The FCT Minister, his General Counsel, Barr. Salman Y. Dako, Esq, have both directly and through their recruits, including but not limited to the aforementioned, have continued to deliberately violate and disobey judgments and orders. Rather, they have been engaging in share display of abuse of office, authority and use of force and the machinery of government for personal vendetta.
Khamagam stated that all actions taken behind Faruk were illegal owing to earlier judicial pronouncements.
“All financial transaction, written instruments whether in the form of letter, memo, contract, report, MOU, etc in the name of AMML, or signed by Engr. Mohammed Abbas Yakubu or any of Mr. Onya Nsor Ojiji, Faruk Baffa, Innocent Amaechina, Musa Hussaini Shelleng, Deborah Jai, Asogwa Gloria, Ibrahim Sa’ad or any other person under the instruction of or at the instance of Engr. Mohammed Abbas Yakubu in any capacity as a staff of AMML are void ab initio and will not be recognised by AMML,” he said.
