Lagos State urged the court to restrain the respondents from giving effect to the judgment delivered on March 27 pending the determination of the appeal filed against the said judgment. The Lagos State government has filed a stay of execution order against the judgment of a Federal High Court cancelling the collection of tolls at the Lekki-Ikoyi link bridge. In a statement on Tuesday, the state said it had also officially appealed against the judgment by Justice Saliu Seidu. “In the notice of appeal dated Friday, March 28, 2014 and filed on the same date, Lagos State Government is challenging the decision arrived at by the Federal High Court to the effect that the fact of payment by its contractors to National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) was an admission by the State that the Federal Government had constitutional or legislative authority to regulate inland waterways throughout the country,” the state said in a statement signed Lawal Pedro, Solicitor-General, Lagos State. “More importantly, the State Government wants the Court of Appeal to reverse the decision of the Federal High Court to the effect that there was no law enacted by the Lagos State House of Assembly authorising the State to impose tolls on public infrastructure in the State.” According to the State Government, the “Lagos State Public Private Partnership Law No. 2 of 2011 clearly empowers the Government to specify the service charges, user fees or tolls which are payable in respect of designated public infrastructure or public assets.” Last Thursday, Justice Seidu had ruled against the state government in a suit filed by Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, a lawyer and human rights activist, challenging the collection of toll on the newly constructed bridge. The judge noted that his judgment was based on merit rather than technical issues raised by parties in their addresses. “The further counter affidavit of the third (Attorney General of Lagos State) and fourth (Lagos State government), and the response of the first and second respondents, have answered most of the questions before this court,” Justice Seidu said. “The second respondent (National Inland Waterways Authority, NIWA) is the only Federal agency to form and regulate Navigable Waterway in the country in line with the NIWA Act. “The applicant did not contest this issue, but only goes further to raise the issue of collection of toll from the subject matter… “The fact before this court is that the bridge was built with the third respondent’ money. I agree and uphold the construction of the bridge, and the power of the Lagos State government to generate revenue there from, but the existing laws does not cover it. “I therefore hold that the third respondent can only make a law to that effect before it can collect tolling on the Lekki-Ikoyi Bridge,” the judge added. In their Notice of Appeal, Lagos state urged the court to restrain the respondents from giving effect to the judgment delivered on March 27 pending the determination of the appeal filed against the said judgment. “The processes have been served on all the parties to the suit and Thursday, April 3, 2014 has been fixed by the Appeal Section of the Federal High Court for settlement of record of proceedings. “No date has been fixed for the hearing of the application for stay of execution,” the statement added.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Apr 2014 20:58:23 +0000
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