A Federal High Court, Abuja on Wednesday struck out the suit challenging the enactment of Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act, 2013 that prescribed 14 years imprisonment as punishment for anybody that breached it.
Delivering his judgment yesterday, the trial Judge, Justice Abdul Kafarati, who had heard both the preliminary objection filed by the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) together with the substantive matter, held that the plaintiff, Mr Teriah Joseph Ebah lacks locus standi to bring the action under the Fundamental Human Rights on behalf of a legally unknown Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transsexual Community. Justice Kafarati said: “he is aware of the preamble to the Fundamental Human Rights Enforcement Act that allowed person to sue on behalf of the public. That preamble does not give individual power to sue on behalf of others.”
He added that “the suit is inconsistent with the law, as the applicant has no locus standi to bring this suit. This suit is incompetent and it is hereby struck out.” It will be recalled that following the enactment of the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act, one Teriah Joseph Ebah, had sued the Federal Government at the Federal High Court in Abuja asking it to restrain the government from further enforcing the same sex prohibition Act, 2013.
He also challenged the signing into law of the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act, 2013 by President Goodluck Jonathan on January 7, 2014.
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/197/2014, filed on behalf of the plaintiff by his counsel, Mike Enahoro Ebah brought by way of originating summons, the applicant wanted an injunctive order restraining the Federal Government from further enforcing the provisions of the same-sex prohibition law and a declarative order that the law is “unconstitutional, null and void.”
Meanwhile, the applicant’s counsel, Ebah told journalists that he will head to the Court of Appeal to appeal the decision of Justice Kafarati.
