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The Justice Rekiya Haastrup-led Industrial Court of Nigeria sitting in Abuja has rejected the interlocutory injunction brought before it to halt the process for the appointment of a new Accountant General of the Federation until the main case is determined.

The Court which on Wednesday, averred that many issues in the application will be decided in line with the substantive case, hence, it is unnecessary to stop the process.

Meanwhile, Joshua Kadmi Luka, who is the claimant in the case represented in Court by his Attorney, Ibrahim Angulu, SAN, called for accelerated hearing as a result of the importance of the matter and its timing.

Justice Haastrup, however, adjourned the case to March 25, 2025 for continuation of hearing on the matter.

Also addressing Journalists after the court session, he said “we applied for an interlocutory injunction and she did not grant it and she stated her reasons for not doing so.

“One of the reasons is that some of these issues will be determined at the main suit and so she cannot comment on them now.

“Secondly, she said in the public interest and because there cannot be a vacuum, if the process of appointing a new accountant General is stopped, it will not be in the public interest,” so those are the reasons.

The claimant, Joshua Kadmi Luka, a Director in the Federal Civil Service had approached the Court following his exclusion from participating in the selection process of the Accountant General, which is already ongoing over allegations of fraud.

Ibrahim also said, “It is also our contention that a mere allegation of crime without conviction, cannot be used to exclude the claimant.

The law is very clear, he has not been found guilty, so because of a mere allegation he cannot be excluded,”he said.

Also in an earlier letter to the Office of the Head of Service, the legal representative had written that when “Our Client attempts to participate in the process of selection for Permanent Secretaries or Accountant General of the Federation, his name is always excluded just as in this current exercise for Accountant General of the Federation.

“It is crystal clear that allegations are only made up against our client at the time of the exercise for appointments. Be that as it may, a mere allegation should not exclude our Client from this exercise, as he has not been found guilty by a competent Court of Law for a criminal offence, neither the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) nor the Head of Service can convict him and punish him for these alleged criminal offences and since he has not been convicted of any criminal offence he is entitled to the presumption of innocence as enshrined in Section 36 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999.

“To exclude him at this stage from participating in this exercise will amount to punishing him for a criminal offence for which he has not been found guilty.”