Rep. Ifedayo Abegunde (LP-Akure), has sued the Ondo State House of Assembly and six others over the moves to recall him from the National Assembly.
Abegunde,who represents Akure South and North Federal Constituency, joined the state Labour Party (LP) Chairman and INEC in the suit.
Also joined in the case at the Federal High Court in Akure were the Speaker of the House of Representatives and LP National Chairman.
Other defendants are the Chairmen of Akure South and North Federal Constituencies and urged the court to stop the recall proceedings.
Abegunde had dumped the LP, the platform on which he was elected, before defecting to the ACN, citing the crisis in the LP as the reason for the defection.
But Labour Party denied any split in its rank and proceeded to initiate recall moves against the two-term legislator.
The party has been collecting signatures of registered voters in the Constituency, to recall him from the National Assembly.
Abegunde, through his counsel, Mr Kola Olawoye, went to the court to seek protection against the move.
The lawmaker prayed the court to determine whether by the provisions of Section 68 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution and the crisis, division and factions in the LP, he was not entitled to dump the party.
He said that by the virtue of the constitutional provisions and the crisis within the party, he was entitled to dump the party.
The plaintiff also urged the court to grant an interlocutory injunction restraining the defendants from any step whatsoever concerning to his defection from LP to ACN.
The defendants in their counter claim declared that the applicant had dumped the platform for his election into the National Assembly.
They argued that since Abegunde had failed to prove any division within the LP, he had automatically vacated his seat as a member of the National Assembly.
The defendants asked the court to pronounce that by the reason of his defection, he had ceased to be a member of the House of Representatives.
Apart from asking him to vacate the seat, the counter-claimant also prayed the Speaker of the National Assembly to declare the seat vacant and INEC should conduct by-election to fill the seat.
When the case came up for hearing on Tuesday, the judge, Justice Grace Okeke, refused to hear an interlocutory application brought by the applicant.
Okeke ruled that the court would begin definite hearing of the substantive suit brought by Abegunde.
The court fixed hearing of the matter for April 26. (NAN)
Vanguard Nigeria