By Chuks Collins, Awka
A Federal High Court sitting in Awka, Anambra State presided over by Justice Bala Khalifa-Mohammed Usman, has adjourned proceedings to May 25, 2026, in the suit brought before it by the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) against an Anambra-based rights activist, Comrade Osita Obi.
EEDC instituted the suit against Obi, seeking N100 million damages for actions allegedly connected to Comrade Obi’s protest against the company’s electricity distribution practices in the state in 2019.
The electricity distribution company alleged that the said street protest was at the behest of Obi over what was described as a persistent epileptic power supply and other related grievances raised and experienced by electricity consumers.
Mr Martin Obi, counsel to Comrade Obi told the court at the continuation of proceedings on Wednesday, 11 March, 2026 that the defence had earlier filed a preliminary objection challenging the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court to entertain the suit.
The defence counsel argued that this lapse reflected a lack of diligent prosecution of the matter by the plaintiff.
Consequent upon this argument, the court adjourned further proceedings to May 25, 2026 to enable all parties to properly address it on the issues raised.
Addressing journalists shortly after the session, counsel to the first defendant, Barrister Martin Obi, insisted that the plaintiff had no sustainable cause of action against his client.
According to him, for a suit to be validly instituted, there must exist a clear and legally recognisable cause of action, describing the protest organised by his client as a peaceful demonstration protected under the nation’s Constitution.
“The protest organised by the first defendant was a peaceful one, which is recognised and protected by the Constitution,” he said.
Barrister Obi also argued that the Federal High Court lacks the jurisdiction to adjudicate the matter, insisting that the plaintiff, being a private company, does not fall within the category of entities whose disputes fall under the court’s constitutional jurisdiction.
He cited Section 251 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which defines the specific and exclusive jurisdiction of the Federal High Court.
“The plaintiff is not a Federal Government agency, and the defendants are also not Federal Government agencies,” he said.
“Unlike the State High Court, which is a court of unlimited jurisdiction, the Federal High Court is a specialised court with limited but exclusive jurisdiction clearly defined under Section 251 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
