The move by a ranking member of the House of Representatives, Farouk Lawan, and his colleague Boniface Emenalo, to dismiss bribery charges against them has been rejected by the court.
An Abuja High Court presided over by Justice Mudashiru Oniyangi on Friday morning dismissed the application of the accused to quash the charges.
The court ruled in favour of the prosecution, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, ICPC, on the three issues.
The court ruled that it has jurisdiction, that there is evidence of crime against the prosecution, and that the charges are not an abuse of court process.
The counsel to the lawmakers said he would consult with his clients before deciding on appeal.
The two men are accused of demanding and collecting $620, 000 bribe from an oil magnate, Femi Otedola, to free his company of petrol subsidy fraud.
That was not all. On some technicalities, the court further ruled that the prosecution not having attached statements of witnesses to the charge was no basis to discharge the accused persons.
"The position of the law is clear, provision of Section 185(b) of the Criminal Procedure Code, CPC, relied upon by the accused persons does not suggest that written statement of witnesses must be attached to an application to prefer charges, I therefore hold that Section 185(b) of the Criminal Procedure Code requires an attachment of proof of evidence and not written statement of witnesses," he said.
The court further established that a prima facie case has been made against both men, requiring them to stand trial.
"Once there is evidence from the documents tendered before the court that the accused has questions to answer in respect of the charges, the accused should face his trial and prove his innocence," the judge maintained.
The matter was consequently adjourned for hearing to June 19.
Reacting to the court's decision, Rickey Tarfa, counsel to the accused persons, stated that he would study the certified copy of the ruling and discuss with his clients to know the next line of action to take. He indicated that they may appeal the decision if the occasion demands.
Count one of the charge reads: “That you, Farouk
Lawan (M) and Mr. Emenalo Boniface (M) sometime in April 2012 or
thereabouts in Abuja within the Federal Capital Territory under the
jurisdiction of this honourable court did while acting in the course of
your official duties as Chairman and Secretary (respectively) of House
of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee on Monitoring of Fuel Subsidy Regime
conspired between yourselves and with each other to corruptly obtain
the sum of $3,000,000 for yourselves from Mr. Femi Otedola, Chairman of
Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd, as inducement to remove the name of Zenon
Petroleum and Gas Ltd from the House of Representatives AdHoc Committee
on Monitoring of Fuel Subsidy Regime’s Report and did cause the House to
remove the name of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd from the said list and
thereby committed an offence contrary to section 26(1)(c) of the
Independent Corrupt Practices and Other-Related Offences Act, 2000, and
punishable under section 8(1) of the same Act.”
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na wash.
ReplyDeleteNothing will happen! They are just going to deceive us to until after Obama's visit. Nigeria has no plans to fight corruption beyond the more you the less you see
ReplyDeleteThe federal Government of Nigeria not only tolerates corrupt practices but deliberately applies lubricants to the wheels of corruption in Nigeria for smooth facilitation.Nigerians should wake up from their docile slumber to cry against corruption.
ReplyDeleteThose who lubricate the wheels of corruption in Nigeria stand on no moral ground to fight it.
ReplyDelete