Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa of the Federal High Court, Lagos, has dismissed a suit filed by the Registered Trustees of the Auto Spare Parts and Machinery Dealers Association (ASPMDA) against the Attorney-General of Lagos State and the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), describing it as an abuse of court process.

The trustees, through their counsel, A. Yekeen, had approached the court seeking several declaratory and injunctive reliefs. Among their prayers is a declaration that, by virtue of Section 5(2)(a) and (b) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended), and Sections 827 and 836 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), 2020, the Lagos State Government lacked the power to interfere in the management and affairs of the association.

They further asked the court to declare that it was ultra vires for the Lagos State Government to act on or rely upon any purported legal advice from the office of the Inspector-General of Police to dissolve or remove the officers or executive council of the association.

In response, counsel representing the Lagos State Attorney-General, E. O. Akande, a director in the Ministry of Justice, urged the court to dismiss the suit. He argued that the application constituted a gross abuse of the court’s process.

Similarly, Morufu Animashaun, a Legal Officer at the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) Annexe, Alagbon-Ikoyi, who appeared for the Inspector-General of Police, aligned with the submission.

Both counsels cited several previous suits involving the same parties and subject matter, including cases numbered LD/2588/GCM/2018; CA/L/1513/2018; FHC/L/CS/672/2020; FHC/L/CS/1548/2021, and another matter currently pending before the Supreme Court.

They contended that the instant suit was repetitive, vexatious, and an abuse of judicial process. Akande and Animashaun therefore urged the court to dismiss the case with substantial costs, noting that it lacked jurisdiction and was a deliberate attempt to relitigate settled issues.

In his judgment, Justice Lewis-Allagoa held that the core of the plaintiffs’ claim centred on the leadership tussle within the Registered Trustees of the Auto Spare Parts and Machinery Dealers Association.

According to him, the same issue had been the subject of previous litigations involving members of the same association, irrespective of differences in the parties.

“The crux of the plaintiff’s claim rests on the contest for the leadership of the Registered Trustees of Auto Spare Parts and Machinery Dealers Association (ASPMDA),” the judge stated.

“It revolves around the same issues, and it does not matter if different parties initiated those other suits LD/2588/GCM/2018, CA/L/1513/2018, FHC/L/CS/672/2020, and FHC/L/CS/1548/2021.

“The issues are the same – the leadership of the association. All the parties are members of that association. The present action is an improper use of the judicial process.”

Justice Lewis-Allagoa further cited the legal principle that where two actions are instituted on the same subject matter, the latter, if seeking reliefs that could have been obtained in the earlier suit, is considered vexatious and an abuse of court process.

“The law is that where a suit is an abuse of process, the proper order to be made is dismissing the process which constitutes such abuse,” he held.

“Having found that the present action is an abuse of court process, the suit is accordingly dismissed.” Consequently, the court dismissed the case and awarded costs of N200,000 against the applicant, payable in favour of both the Attorney-General of Lagos State and the Inspector-General of Police.