The House of Representatives yesterday told the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja that the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Deziani Alison-Madueke, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) have been frustrating the probe of the N10 billion chartered jet scandal.

Madueke and NNPC had approached the court seeking to stop the House of Representatives from probing them over the alleged scandal.

The House, however, in its preliminary objection to the suit filed by its counsel, Aminu Sadauki, told the court that both Madueke and NNPC have refused to honour invitations by its various committees set up to probe the allegations against them.

In an affidavit attached to support the preliminary objection, the defendant averred that the main reasons that gave rise to the suit are that second defendant, House Committee on Petroleum (Upstream), invited the Group Managing Director of the second plaintiff (NNPC) to appear before it on Wednesday, July 17, 2013 over proposed $1.5 billion NNPC loan.

The Reps also averred that letters written by the 2nd defendant to the plaintiffs dated March 26, 2014, inviting the plaintiffs to testify and tender evidence at the investigative public hearing of the 2nd defendant’s Public Accounts Committee which they proposed to hold into the charter of private aircraft for alleged non-official use by the plaintiffs.

It further averred that the plaintiffs are yet to comply with the said invitation. The House, however, asked the court to dismiss the suit on grounds that it amounts to abuse of court process. The defendants also contended that the suit was premature and nonjustifiable, adding that the plaintiffs had similar suit between the same parties and on substantially the same ground, pending before Justice A.R. Mohammed of the same Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.

The Senate is yet to file any response to the suit. Alison-Madueke and the NNPC had through their counsel, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), filed the suit marked FHC/ ABJ/CS/346/2014 seeking among others, a declaration that by law, both the Senate and the House of Representatives lacked the power to invite them without first obtaining the consent of the president.

The trial judge, Justice Gabriel Kolawole, however directed the plaintiffs to respond to the House of Representatives’ notice of preliminary objection. He later adjourned adjourned till January 26, 2015.