Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Dr Kemi Pinheiro has advised the Lagos State House of Assembly and its Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, not to interfere in a land dispute between his client and the Agege Local Government because the matter is pending before the court and it is also a subject of police investigation.
Pinheiro, who advised in a letter dated November 6, 2024, on behalf of his clients, Mr and Mrs Olugbenga Edwards Ayo-Odugbesan, stated that the letter of invitation dated November 5, 2024, is not backed by any known law.
The lawyer insisted that the lawmakers’ action amounted to an attempt to violate the constitutional requirement of separation of power by usurping the executive functions of the police and judicial functions of the courts hearing the matter.
Therefore, he said he had advised his clients not to attend the meeting in the interest of the rule of law so they would not be held in contempt of court.
The assembly’s invitation followed an October 31, 2024, petition against the Ayo-Odugbesan couple by a group, Concerned Agege Residents, claiming that the disputed property situated at No. 47, Old Ogba Road, Near M.K.O Abiola Market, Agege, belongs to the Agege Local Government chaired by Alhaji Kola Ganiu Egunjobi.
However, in his letter, Pinheiro claimed that the power to investigate crime has been ceded to the police and other law enforcement agencies by the provisions of the Constitution and the Police Act.
He argued that he could not find any Constitutional provision donating powers to investigate crime or any crime allegation to any House of Assembly of a state or even the federal legislature.
The lawyer further stated that he had looked at the powers donated to the Legislature and that he could not find any that supports the investigation of allegations of crime and determination of ownership of land.”
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