31st October 2026, NewsOrient, Law And Society, Education, Governance And Development, Politics, News

Indigenes of Item in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State, Nigeria, have dragged the National Assembly and five others to the Federal High Court, Umuahia Judicial Division, over steps to relocate Federal University of Medical and Health Sciences, located in Item, to Bende community and to swap the said Federal University of Medical and Health Sciences, Item, with the Federal College of Education located in Bende community.

NewsOrient reports that the suit, with suit no: FHC/UM/CS/176/2026, dated and filed on the 23rd day of October, 2026, was instituted by Chief Gabriel Emperor O Ogbonna, a legal practitioner and activist on his own behalf as an indigene of Item and on behalf of other indigenes and residents of Item, against the National Assembly, the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the House of Representatives, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and Hon. Julius Ihonvbere, who allegedly sponsored the amendment bill, for taking steps to amend the Federal University of Medical and Health Sciences, Item (Establishment) Act, 2025, with the view of swapping the official location of Federal University of Medical and Health Sciences, located in Item with the Federal College Of Education located in Bende community.

The writ was issued by Jane Ekekwe Esq., of 118 Market Road, Aba.

In the originating court processes, the claimant is challenging legislative steps being taken to amend the Federal University of Medical and Health Sciences, Item (Establishment) Act, 2025, in a manner that would change the university’s location from Item community to Bende community.

According to the claimant’s statement of claim, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed into law the legislation establishing the university in June 2025, with the official site, being in Item, following which the people of Item commenced preparations for its effective take-off.

The claimant stated that the Item community donated approximately 300 hectares of land for the proposed institution and undertook other preliminary activities, including surveying the land and processing the necessary documentation for the university’s site.

The court document further stated that the community contributed ₦10 million towards media publicity, land surveying and the processing of Certificate Of Occupancy for the proposed university.

It also stated that a Federal Government visitation team visited the proposed university site in Item on July 25, 2026, to assess the land and facilities provided by the host community.

As Chief Gabriel Emperor Ogbonna puts it in his Statement of Claim: “On the 25th day of July 2026, a panel from the Federal Government of Nigeria visited the site of the said university in Item. The team was hosted by the town and they were taken round and they saw the entire facility and they were impressed over the level of development there and over the facilities already there.”

However, the claimant alleged that unknown to members of the Federal Government’s official visiting panel and the host community, Item, even before this formal verifying visit, some legislative steps had been taken by the defendants in the suit to amend the university’s establishment law, with the objective of changing its official location from Item community to Bende community without any justifiable cause.

The claimant specifically challenged the actions associated with the proposed amendment and questioned the justification for changing the institution’s official location after the community had provided a well suitable expanse of land and have commenced preparations for the take off of the university.

The statement of claim also referred to legislative proceedings in the House of Representatives, including reports of “consideration and passage of an amendment bill through the required readings.”

He, for example, alleged that “Even before the the day the Visitation Panel visited the site of the University’s site in Item to ascertain it’s suitability, …, the defendants had commenced the said amendment process aimed at changing Item as the location of the university and that the amendment bill had in fact passed it’s third reading at the House of Representatives.

Identifyong Hon. Julius Ihonvbere as the official sponsor of the amendment bill, Chief Gabriel Emperor Ogbonna and the other Item indigenes contend that there is no justification for the changes and swapping of the official locations of the both the university and the college of education.

The claimant argued further that the proposed change was being pursued without adequate consideration of Item community’s interests and before the findings of the Federal Government’s visitation team had been made available.

Among the reliefs being sought by the claimant is a prayer for the Honourable Court to declare null and void the steps taken by the defendants to amend the establishment law for the purpose of changing the university’s location from Item to Bende.

The claimant is also seeking an injunction restraining the defendants from implementing the proposed amendment in a manner that would remove the university from Item, pending the production and consideration of the report of the Visitation Panel set up by the National Universities Commission and the Federal Government of Nigeria.

~ Published By NewsOrient Network

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