JUSTICE Saliu Saidu of the Federal High Court, Lagos yesterday withheld ruling on the fundamental rights application suit filed by the Labour Party (LP) governorship flag bearer in Anambra State, Ifeanyi Ubah challenging his arrest, detention and prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) pending the hearing of Uba’s latest application. The decision of the court followed an application filed by Ubah dated October 28 seeking the leave of the court to file and rely on further affidavit. Consequently, the court deferred ruling and adjourned till November 4 for hearing of the application. R. A. Oluyede represented the applicant while A.A Nuhu represented the second and third respondents. Respondents in the suit filed by Ubah and his company, Capital Oil and Gas Limited are the EFCC chairman, the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF). According to an eight- paragraph affidavit deposed to by one Chinedu Mbata on behalf of the applicants, they swore that during the pendency of the suit, the Nigerian Police concluded its examination of documents alleged to have been forged by Ubah and produced a report dated July 1, 2013. He averred that the applicants were not aware as at the date of hearing of the originating motion that the police had concluded its examination of the document alleged to have been forged by the applicant despite repeated enquiry. “The applicant now desires to provide this honourable court a copy of that report to assist the court in reading a decision in this suit”, he stated. But in a 35-paragraph counter- affidavit deposed to by Osita Chinwendu, an operative of EFCC, the defendant swore that on November 28 and December 17, 2012, the EFCC received petitions from the law office of Deji Sesagbon & Company and Hermond on behalf of Dys Trocca Vaksesia (DTV) against the applicant. “We studied the petition against the application and the petition raised allegations of fraud, obtaining registration by false pretence, forgery, uttering of forged documents, conspiracy to obtain money by false pretence, obtaining money by false pretence, tax evasion and under payment consent fees against the applicants”, he swore. He said that the applicants are not entitled to any of the declaration sought or any declaration whatsoever, as their fundamental rights were never breached nor infringed upon. He averred: “That it will be in the interest of justice to refuse the reliefs sought as the applicants will not be prejudiced by the refusal of the order.” The plaintiffs had filed the suit praying the court to declare that the continued witch-hunt, threatened arrest, detention of the applicant in order to humiliate the first plaintiff (Ubah) by portraying him to the public as a criminal (when the matters which the first respondent purported to be investigating consist of accusations and counter-accusations by shareholders and directors of DTV Limited, against one another in a supremacy tussle within the company and no accusation has been made against the applicant whose only relationship with the said DTV Limited is in respect of a purely civil transaction involving lease of land and/or purchase of shares of subsidiary of the said DTV Limited in which the defendant have no reasonable suspicion of commission of any criminal offence by the plaintiff) constitutes an infraction of the applicants fundamental rights enshrined in Section 35 (1) (c) and 36 (5) of the Constitution. Consequently, the plaintiff prayed the court to order a perpetual injunction restraining the respondents from persecuting, detaining, threatening to detain or prosecute the applicant in respect of the matters involving purely civil transaction between the plaintiff and the DTV limited. Meanwhile, the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Peter Obi on Media and Publicity, Mr. Valentine Obienyem has called for the immediate arrest of Dr. Chris Ngige and the Deputy Director, Media and Publicity of his Campaign Organisation, Mr. Okelo Madukaife over the allegation that “fake Police and NYSC uniforms” were being sown in Anambra State Government House by APGA for those they are recruiting for the purpose of perpetrating election fraud. Obienyem, however, did not state if any report has been made to the police, but insisted that the accusation was weighty enough that by now, Dr. Chris Ngige and his aide that made the accusation should be helping the police to get to the root of the matter, arguing that failure to act would be a grave omission on the part of security agencies as the accusation borders on criminality.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 08:54:13 +0000
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