A civic organisation, the Incorporated Trustees of the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners (ALDRAP), has dragged the leadership of the House of Representatives before the Federal High Court, Abuja, seeking an order compelling it to enforce a legislative summons issued to the Director-General of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), Prof Abubakar Olanrewaju Sulaiman.

In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1322/2026, ALDRAP is asking the court to issue an order of mandamus directing the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Chairman of the House Committee on Legislative Library, Research and Documentation, Hon Yusuf Galambi, to invoke their constitutional and statutory powers to compel Prof Sulaiman’s appearance before the committee.
  
The applicant contended that the NILDS boss failed to honour an invitation issued by the committee for a scheduled appearance on June 18, 2026, despite the summons having been issued in the exercise of the House’s oversight functions.

According to court documents, ALDRAP argued that the refusal of the NILDS Director-General to appear before the committee has frustrated the effective discharge of the committee’s constitutional responsibilities and undermined the oversight powers vested in the National Assembly.

The group is therefore seeking a declaration that the oversight functions conferred on the House of Representatives under Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), include both the power and the duty to compel attendance and enforce compliance with lawful summons issued by its committees.
  
Specifically, ALDRAP is asking the court to compel the respondents to issue a warrant for the arrest of Prof Sulaiman for allegedly failing to honour the committee’s summons and to take all other lawful steps necessary to secure his attendance before the committee.
  
The association is also seeking an order directing the respondents to ensure strict compliance with the provisions of the Constitution and the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act relating to persons who neglect or refuse to attend proceedings after being duly summoned.
  
In the originating motion filed by its counsel, J.J. Lamay, the organisation argued that Sections 88 and 89 of the Constitution empower the House of Representatives and its committees to conduct investigations, summon persons to appear before them, and compel the production of evidence and documents relevant to legislative inquiries.
  
It further relied on Sections 3 and 4 of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act as well as Order 19 of the House of Representatives Standing Orders, 2023, which, according to the applicant, provide mechanisms for enforcing compliance with legislative summons.
  
ALDRAP maintained that both the Speaker and the committee chairman possess the constitutional and statutory authority to issue warrants and take other measures necessary to secure the attendance of persons who fail or refuse to honour lawful invitations issued by the House or its committees.
  
In an affidavit deposed to by the Administrative Secretary of ALDRAP, Jesse Williams Amuga, the organisation stated that the House Committee on Legislative Library, Research and Documentation has oversight responsibility over NILDS and had invited Prof Sulaiman to appear before it on June 18, 2026.
  
Amuga averred that despite the invitation, the NILDS Director-General did not appear before the committee.
  
He further stated that following the alleged failure of Prof Sulaiman to honour the invitation, petitioners wrote to the Speaker and the committee on June 18, 2026, requesting the issuance of an arrest warrant to compel the NILDS chief’s appearance before the panel.
  
According to the affidavit, notwithstanding the powers available to them under the Constitution and other enabling laws, the respondents allegedly failed to invoke those powers to enforce compliance with the summons.
  
“The failure of the respondents to act has undermined and continues to undermine the constitutional oversight powers of the House of Representatives,” the deponent stated.
  
ALDRAP told the court that, as an organisation dedicated to legislative development, constitutionalism, accountability and the rule of law, it has sufficient interest in ensuring that public authorities perform duties imposed on them by law.
  
The association argued that judicial intervention has become necessary because the continued failure of the respondents to enforce compliance with the summons could weaken the effectiveness of legislative oversight and undermine constitutional governance.
  
It therefore urged the court to compel the House leadership to exercise the powers available under the Constitution and other relevant laws to secure Prof Sulaiman’s attendance before the committee.