Man who named dog Buhari asks court to dismiss criminal charge

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9 years ago

THE man that was charged to court by the police for naming his dog Alhaji Buhari, Joachim Iroko, has asked Magistrate B.J. Ojikutu of the Chief Magistrates’ Court 2, sitting in Ota, Ogun State, to dismiss the criminal charge filed against him.

Iroko, who was arraigned on August 22, 2016, on a one-count charge of inscribing the name ‘Alhaji Buhari’ on his dog and parading same in the Hausa section of the Ketere market in Sango area of Ogun State filed a fresh application before the court through his lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, Esq.

The application is challenging the constitutionality and legality of the criminal charge against him and he is asking the court to quash the charge.

Further in his Motion on Notice filed in the court on September 16, 2016, Iroko is seeking an order quashing Charge No: 671C/2016 preferred against him for want of jurisdiction and an order setting down the application for hearing preliminarily.

He also asked for an order staying further proceedings in the court in Charge No. 671C/2016, pending the hearing and final determination of this application.

The grounds he adduced for the application include the argument that the court lacks the requisite jurisdiction to entertain and adjudicate upon Charge No. 671C/2016, preferred against the applicant and that the subject matter of Charge No.671C/2016 preferred against him is not a criminal offence in law for which he could be put to trial.

Iroko also stated that the court has the jurisdiction to quash a charge where there is no disclosure of an offence and the trial would amount to an abuse of the process of the court, adding that there is an inherent jurisdiction in the court to prevent an abuse of its process.

“Charge No.671C/2016 as presently constituted is unconstitutional, null, void and cannot form the basis of any criminal trial,” the motion said..

The case is slated for Monday, September 19, 2016 and Iroko has consistently maintained that he has the legal right to give his dog any name and that the name ‘Buhari’ is not synonymous with or exclusive to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.