A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a suit filed by the immediate past Minister of State for Labour, Festus Keyamo (SAN), seeking to compel anti-corruption agencies to arrest and prosecute former Vice President and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last presidential election, Atiku Abubakar.
In a judgment yesterday, Justice James Omotosho held that the suit was without merit.
The judge also held that Keyamo was unable to disclose any reasonable cause of action in the suit to warrant the court exercising its discretion in his favour.
He held that the suit was premature, saying Keyamo failed to allow the relevant law enforcement agencies to investigate the allegations he raised against Atiku before rushing to court.
Keyamo had claimed, in the suit, that Atiku had a case to answer in view of a disclosure by one of his former aides that the ex-Vice President colluded with others to fleece the country of public funds with the use of what they called “Special Purpose Vehicles” (SPVs).
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The plaintiff, who sued at the expiration of the 72-hour ultimatum he handed to relevant anti-graft agencies to probe the allegations, argued that Atiku ought to have been invited and quizzed by security agencies, based on indicting revelations and evidence that were released by a whistleblower, Michael Achimugu.
Defendants in the suit were: Atiku, the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Reacting in a statement yesterday in Abuja by the Assistant Head of his law firm, John Ainetor, the former minister said he planned to appeal the judgment.
Keyamo said he disagreed with the decision of the court, insisting that “the law-enforcement agencies did not indicate their willingness to commence investigations, even if they were given more time”.
He added: “We want to establish a legal principle that the society cannot wait ad infinitum for law enforcement agencies to do their statutory duties.
“The suit was designed to prompt the agencies to show their readiness to investigate.
“We are immediately filing an appeal against the said decision to the Court of Appeal as the struggle on this issue continues.”