-Says Civil Law Court lacks jurisdiction
After being humiliated in the Liberian Senate for failing to prove his Liberian naturalized citizenship, President Weah’s withdrawn nominee to chair the National Elections Commission, Cllr. Ndubusi Nwabudike has gone back to his LACC office, official sources say.
At the same time, he has rushed to the Civil Law Court at the Temple of Justice, which is the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court, to challenge claims that his citizenship documents are forge.
“Once you were appointed to another position by the President and you have been rejected by the Senate, it is the President’s prerogative to restore you to your previous post or assign you to a new one, but it was not done in the case of Ndubusi Nwabudike,” one source said.
The Liberian government through the Ministry of Justice has said the Sixth, Judicial Circuit Court at the Temple of Justice lacks jurisdiction to hear naturalization matter and does not have the capacity to hear matter relating to naturalization.
It says this speaks to the fact that the petitioner is attempting to oust the First Judicial Circuit Court/the Criminal Court ‘A’ of its jurisdiction to confer same on the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court and was in violation of the laws in our jurisdiction that parties cannot confer jurisdiction on courts that are not given them by statute.
Therefore, the Liberian government through the Justice Ministry has filed a 28- counts motion requesting the Civil Law Court at the Temple of Justice to deny and dismiss controversial NE nominee, Ndubusi Nwabudike’s petition of declaratory judgement.
According to government’s response, the court should deny and dismiss Cllr. Nwabudike’s petition of declaratory judgement filed recently for the following legal reasons.
“Respondent says that according to section 11.2 page 119 of 1LCLR captioned motion to dismiss provides that
“Time, grounds at the time of service of his responsive pleading, a party may move for judgement dismissing one or more claims for relief asserted against him in a complaint or counterclaim on any of the following grounds.”
The government’s Lawyers further said that the court has no jurisdiction of the subject matter of the action that the court has no jurisdiction,
“Further to count one herein above, respondent says that while it is the fact that all courts of record within their respective jurisdiction shall have the power to declare rights statutes and other legal relation, the Aliens and nationality law of Liberia makes it expressly clear in Chapter 2, 1.5(1) that jurisdiction to naturalize exclusive jurisdiction to naturalize persons as citizens of Liberia is conferred upon the circuit courts in Montserrado county first judicial circuit court who shall exercise such jurisdiction.
Chapter 21.5(i) of the Aliens and nationality law confers exclusive jurisdiction on the first judicial circuit to grant citizenship.
The government through the Ministry of Justice said the filing of the declaratory judgement with the sixth judicial circuit court makes the entire cause of action dismissible as a matter of law.
Furthermore, the respondent added that the sixth judicial circuit court lacks jurisdiction over the thing involves in petitioner’s petition, that the issue of nationality as a result of naturalization which also the subject matter of the petition because the issue of nationality through naturalization is squarely within the office of the first judicial circuit Assizes B as provided by the statute.
The Justice Ministry’s Lawyers then prayed the court to deny and dismiss the entire petition consistent with the controlling law. Report by Garmah Never Lomo- Temple of Justice, Monrovia