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Tag: EFCC kicks

  • Alleged N15b fraud:  EFCC kicks as Okorocha seeks ex parte order to stop probe

    Following an ex parte order stopping the ongoing investigation of the Governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas, the Economic and Financial Crimes (EFCC) has petitioned the National Judicial Council (NJC) and the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court Justice Abdul Kafarati.

    The anti-graft agency has asked the NJC and Justice Kafarati to review the conduct of the trial judge, Justice Taiwo O. Taiwo of the Federal High Court on alleged obstruction of investigation of some high profile cases.

    Justice Taiwo had granted a similar order staying action on the investigation of the Senate President Bukola Saraki.

    Also, Saraki’s counsel, Sunday Onubi, before Justice Taiwo has coincidentally appeared for Okorocha to secure a similar ex-parte order.

    It was also learnt that a former Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayo Fayose, obtained an order which delayed his trial.

    But the EFCC will today engage in legal battle with Okorocha to vacate the ex parte order when the case comes up.

    Okorocha is under investigation for alleged N15 billion fraud, including N8billion London-Paris Club refund;   alleged N1.15billion contract scam;  alleged diversion of N2billion bailout fund for vote buying during the last general elections; and laundering of about N1.050 billion.

    No fewer than six top officials of the state, including the Accountant-General of Imo State, Mr. Uzoho Casmir had been interrogated by the EFCC.

    Casmir was before his appointment, a Director of Finance in Okorocha’s administration.

    Okorocha rushed to the Federal High Court, seeking a restraining order against the Attorney- General of the Federation (AGF), the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), the State Security Services (SSS), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices & Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Code of Conduct Bureau.

    But on May 8, 2019, the judge asked the EFCC to stay action on Okorocha’s probe, pending the hearing of his motion on notice.

    The order reads in part:  ”Upon this motion Ex-parte dated and filed on the 30th day of April, 2019 praying for the following reliefs:

    “An order directing the respondents by themselves, their servants, agents, privies or officers to stay all action in connection with the subject matter of this suit pending the hearing and determination of the Originating Motion on notice.

    ”And for such further or other orders as this honourable court may deem fit to make in the circumstances.

    ”Upon reading the affidavit in support of the motion ex-parte deposed to by Owelle Rochas Okorocha, male, Nigeria citizen of Imo State Liaison Office Abuja and filed at the court registry.

    “And after hearing Sunday Onubi Esq., for the Applicant move in terms of motion paper. It is hereby ordered as follows:

    “That an order is hereby made directing the respondents by themselves, their servants, agents, privies or officers to stay action in connection with the subject matter of this suit pending the hearing and determination of the Originating Motion on notice.

    ”That the respondents shall be served and they shall respond to the originating motion on notice if they so wish within five days of the service on them of the originating processes and the order of this court in compliance with the rules.”

    The EFCC, however, picked holes in the decision of the judge to grant an ex-parte order to Okorocha, Saraki and Fayose.

    A source said: “The EFCC has decided to protest to the NJC and the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court to review the conduct of the judge, especially alleged abuse of ex-parte order.

    “The EFCC is kicking against the conduct of Justice Taiwo O. Taiwo granting ex parte orders restraining the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from performing its statutory functions.

    “We believe the order of Justice Taiwo O. Taiwo was seeking to abort a process that had started. It is really unfortunate that Okorocha, who is enjoying constitutional immunity, will still go to the Federal High Court to halt his investigation.

    ”We believe it is a well-established legal principle that no court has the power to stop the investigative powers of the EFCC or any agency established under the laws to investigate crimes.

    “This principle has received judicial pronouncements in a host of cases which include: ORJI UZOR KALU v Federal Republic of Nigeria (2016) LPELR-40108 (SC) 1 at pp. 15-16 paras. D-B; Attorney General of Anambra STATE v UBA 2005 15 NWLR (PT.947) 44 at 67, and OBIWUSI v EFCC (2018) LPELR-44536 (CA).

    “The EFCC is also of the opinion that the conduct of His Lordship, Hon. Justice Taiwo O. Taiwo is contrary to Rule 3.5 of the Revised Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which states that a Judicial Officer must avoid the power of issuing interim injunctions, ex parte.”

    The source said the EFCC was worried that Saraki and Fayose had enjoyed the same ex-parte comfort from the judge.

    The source added: “The EFCC is conducting investigation on allegations of corrupt practices by the Senate President, Olubukola Saraki whilst serving as the Executive Governor of Kwara State and also as the Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In the course of the investigation, Senator Olubukola Saraki instituted two suits, essentially seeking to restrain the EFCC from performing its statutory duties and the matters were assigned to Hon. Justice Taiwo O. Taiwo.

    “Justice Taiwo O. Taiwo made two separate ex parte orders in the said cases on 14th May, 2019 restraining the EFCC from performing its statutory functions of carrying out criminal investigation pending the determination of the motions on notice.

    “We want the NJC and the CJ of the Federal High Court to look into judicial impropriety of Justice Taiwo O. Taiwo in matters concerning the EFCC.

    “In one of such instances, on the 24th day of June, 2016, the EFCC applied and secured an interim freezing order from the Federal High Court, Lagos Judicial Division wherein his Lordship, Hon. Justice M.B ldris (as he then was) ordered the Manager of Zenith Bank Plc to freeze bank accounts numbers 1003126654 and 9013074033, among others, operated by Mr. Ayodele Fayose pending the investigation and possible prosecution of the criminal case involving the accounts.

    “Ayodele Fayose subsequently instituted another suit in su1t no. FHC/AD/15/2016 at the Federal High Court, Ado-Ekiti Judicial Division, praying the court for an order directing the EFCC and Zenith Bank Plc to unfreeze and make the said accounts operational.

    ”Justice Taiwo O. Taiwo, despite being aware of the pendency of the matter before Honourable Justice M .B Idris and the order of His Learned brother freezing the account, ordered the EFCC and Zenith Bank Plc to unfreeze, unblock and make operational the said accounts thereby constituting himself as an appellate court over the decision of a court of coordinate jurisdiction.

    “It was however not surprising that the Court of Appeal, on appeal, held that Honourable Justice Taiwo O. Taiwo ought not to have done what he did.

    ”Furthermore, when the EFCC was conducting investigation on acts of corruption allegedly perpetrated by some officials of the Ekiti State Government, the Attorney-General of the State filed suit No. FHC/AD/CS/32/2016 against it and other persons. His Lordship, Honourable Justice Taiwo O. Taiwo on the 30th of January, 2018, in his judgment in the case, strangely granted wholesale, all the eight reliefs sought by the plaintiff in the suit which included perpetual injunctions retraining Ekiti State officials, Ekiti State House of Assembly and Banks in which the accounts of the Ekiti State Government were maintained from disclosing or making available to the EFCC any document, financial statement or information relating to the public funds and accounts of Ekiti State. This undoubtedly frustrated our investigation.”

    In the letter to Judtice Kafarati, Magu demanded the reassignment of all anti-graft cases before Justice Taiwo.

    He also urged the CJ to withdraw cases involving the Dr. Saraki and Okorocha from the judge.

    The commission, Magu said, has no confidence in Justice Taiwo to dispense justice impartially.

    The petition signed yesterday by Magu, accused the judge of recurring bias.

    The petition said in part: “The commission respectively requests Your Lordship to reassign the the above stated cases ( four cases involving Saraki and Okorocha) and all other cases pending before Honourable Justice Taiwo O. Taiwo in which it is involved to other judges of your Lordship’s court.

    “This application has become very necessary because of the commission’ slack of confidence in His Lordship’s impartiality to dispense justice in any matter concerning it.

    “The commission is conducting investigation on allegations  of corrupt practices by the Senate President, Olubukola Abubakar Saraki while he was the Executive Governor of Kwara State and also as the Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

    “It is also investigating Owelle Rochas Okorocha, the outgoing Executive Governor of Imo State for the same allegations of corrupt practices as the governor of the state.

    “Despite the established legal principle which has  received judicial pronouncements in a host of cases, particularly the cases  of Orji Uzor Kalu v. Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Attorney-General of Anambra State v. UBA, Justice Taiwo in all the four suits  by Saraki and Okorocha restrained the commission( among others) from performing its statutory functions of investigating them pending the determination of  the Originating Summons on Notice.

    “Particularly more worrisome is that the said orders were made ex-parte contrary to the acclaimed  judicial deprecation of abuse of ex- parte orders by the courts and Rule 3.5 of the Revised Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which states that: ‘A judicial officer must avoid the power of issuing  interim injunctions, ex parte.”

     

  • EFCC kicks as Obla seeks N1b for ‘illegal’ detention

    EFCC kicks as Obla seeks N1b for ‘illegal’ detention

    •Commission charges judge, SAN

    THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday prayed the Federal High Court in Lagos to dismiss an application by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Godwin Obla, to award him N1 billion damages for alleged illegal detention by the commission.
    Obla was detained for allegedly bribing Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia of the Federal High Court with N5 million.
    In a motion on notice filed through his lawyer Chief Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), Obla prayed the court to declare his detention illegal.
    Arguing the motion before Justice Mohammed Idris yesterday, Adedipe said his client was detained beyond the constitutionally stipulated period.
    “He came to their Lagos (EFCC) office and they detained him. They marched his junior to the car and seized his phone. All these were done without a court order,” he said.
    Adedipe said EFCC granted Obla administrative bail in Abuja in another “Halliburton case”, and yet detained him in Lagos.
    He said the constitution provides that every citizen is presumed innocent until proved guilty, adding that no citizen should be detained beyond 48 hours.
    “All provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) that purports to detaining any citizen for more than 48 hours are unconstitutional and null and void,” he said.
    Adedipe said Obla reported at EFCC on November 8, adding that he ought to be charged to court soon after.
    “The provision in the ACJA that a suspect can be detained for 14 days is unconstitutional and we urge this court to declare those sections illegal,” Adedipe added.
    Besides, he said seizing Obla’s phones violated his right to own property, adding: “The respondent (EFCC) is oppressing my client.”
    He sought N1 billion damages from EFCC for the alleged illegal detention, as well as an order declaring his client’s detention illegal and releasing his phone.
    But, EFCC’s lawyer Mr. Oyedepo Rotimi urged the court to dismiss the application. He said the commission did not violate any law in detaining Obla.
    Rotimi said Obla was invited upon reasonable suspicion that he bribed a judge.
    “We got an intelligence report that the applicant gratified Justice Ajumogobia by paying N5 million into a company belonging to her,” he said.
    The prosecution counsel said Obla was admitted to bail in a different case and that after he reported in Lagos on November 8, the commission applied to a Magistrates’ Court for a remand warrant the following day.
    “There was no application seeking to set aside or vacate that order. And there’s no appeal against the order of the Magistrates’ Court,” he said.
    Rotimi urged the court to refuse to be used as a shield by the applicant to prevent EFCC from carrying out its lawful duties.
    According to him, the constitution allows the right of a citizen to be curtailed by a court order.
    “The order to remand the applicant by the Magistrates’ Court was in order and his remand pursuant to the order was constitutional and lawful,” he said.
    On the seizure of Obla’s phone, Rotimi said the right to own property was not absolute, adding that the EFCC registered the phone as an exhibit.
    “Releasing the exhibit will be extremely prejudicial to the respondent’s right to fair hearing,” he said.
    According to him, there was reasonable suspicion that Obla used the phone to communicate with Justice Ajumogobia.
    “We urge your lordship to refuse and dismiss the application,” he said.
    Rotimi said EFCC had filed a charge against Justice Ajumogobia and Obla at the Lagos State High Court on the issue.
    In the 30-count charge, EFCC said Justice Ajumogobia and Obla allegedly committed an offence on May 21, 2015, by conspiring to pervert justice with N5 million.
    All offences are said to be contrary to the Criminal Laws of Lagos State 2011 and the EFCC (Establishment) Act, 2004.
    Justice Idris adjourned till Friday for a ruling on Obla’s application.

  • Ajudua wants Bamaiyi arraigned for money laundering

    Fraud suspect, Fred Ajudua, on Wednesday urged a Lagos High Court, Ikeja, to order the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to arraign a former Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi, (rtd) for money laundering.

    Ajudua made this request in an application filed by his counsel Olalekan Ojo before the court presided by Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye.

    In the application, Ajudua challenged the competence of the 14 – count charge preferred against him for allegedly defrauding Bamaiyi of about $5.9m (about N1bn).

    He alleged that Bamaiyi, in his petition and statements to the EFCC, alluded to a number of crimes to which he said the commission ought to charge him to court.

    He listed such crimes to include conspiracy, aiding and abetting, money laundering and corrupting of public officers.

    As a result of this new development, the trial of Ajudual did not commence as scheduled.

    Ojo opposed a request by the counsel to the EFCC, Mr. Seidu Atteh, that Ajudua should take his plea.

    Citing previous Supreme Court decisions, Ojo said that an application challenging the competence of the charges should be taken first before the arraignment.

     

  • EFCC kicks against judgment

    EFCC kicks against judgment

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday rejected a six-year jail term with an option of fine for John Yakubu Yusuf, one of the six persons standing trial in the N32.8billion Police Pension scam.

    The option of fine given to the convict by Justice Mohammed Talba of the FCT High Court is N750, 000.

    Apart from the jail term, the former assistant director of Police Pension office is to forfeit 32 properties and N325.187million to the Federal Government.

    The commission, in a statement by its Head of Media and Publicity, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said it would file an appeal against the judgment.

    The statement said: “The EFCC has expressed reservation about the ruling of an FCT High Court, Abuja which handed a six-year jail term, with the option of N750, 000 fine to John Yakubu Yusufu, one of the six persons standing trial in the N32.8billion Police Pension scam.

    “Justice Mohammed Talba convicted and sentenced Yusufu to two years imprisonment with the option of N250, 000 fines on three of an amended 20-count charge.

    “The Commission is of the view that the option of fine runs contrary to the understanding between the prosecution and the defence wherein the convict consented to a custodial sentence with the forfeiture of all assets and money that are proceeds of the crime.

    “The agreement was duly communicated to his lordship. The Commission will study the ruling and respond appropriately.

    “The six accused persons in the police pension scam were first arraigned on March 29, 2012, on 16-count criminal charges bordering on conspiracy and criminal breach of trust.

    “The other accused persons were Esai Dangabar, Atiku Abubakar Kigo, Ahmed Inuwa Wada, Mrs. Veronica Ulonma Onyegbula and Sani Habila Zira. Kigo was the director of the Police Pension Office before he was made permanent secretary.

    “At today’s sitting, the prosecution sought the leave of the court for the accused persons to take fresh plea to an amended 20-count charge.

    “Another accused person, Christian Madubuike, was added to the charge even as the name of Mrs. Uzoma Cyril Attang was removed from the list of accused persons due to her absence in court. She will be arraigned at a later date.

    “All the accused pleaded not guilty to the amended charge, with the exception of Yusufu who pleaded guilty to counts 18, 19 and 20, paving the way for his conviction.

    “Count 19 of the charge reads: “That you John Yakubu Yusufu between 27th January, 2009 and 25th November 2009 at Abuja in the Abuja Division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory converted to your use certain property, to wit: the sum of N1,364, 285, 419.95 (One billion, three hundred and sixty four million, two hundred and eighty five thousand, four hundred and nineteen naira and ninety five kobo) belonging to Police Pension Office domiciled in its account with First Bank of Nigeria Plc and you thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 309 of the Penal Code Act, Cap. 532, Laws of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja , Nigeria , 2007.”

    “Before the ruling, defence counsel Theodore Bala Maiyaki pleaded with the court for leniency.

    “Maiyaki said: ‘My Lord, his conduct has shown respect for this honourable court, he has saved the time of my Lord and being a first offender, with no previous record of conviction, I urge the court to temper justice with mercy and sentence him with least possible terms.”

    “He said the convict has a serious heart condition and is the bread winner of not only his immediate family but of numerous others.

    “However, prosecution counsel Rotimi Jacobs(SAN) reminded the court that Section 309 of the Criminal Procedure Code prescribes a maximum of 2 years imprisonment, a fine or both for the offence which the convict had pleaded guilty to.

    “He said “the court needs to send out the message that the era of stealing public funds with impunity is gone. Having regards to the amount and properties involved, the duty imposed on the convict, it would not be good to convict him without regards to assuaging the feelings of Nigerians especially the pensioners.”

    “Apart from the jail term, the former assistant director of Police Pension office is to forfeit 32 properties.

    Among the properties are two units of a 3 bedroom semi detached bungalow at R2, A and B, sunny homes, Dakwo District, Abuja; two units of three bedroom semi bungalow- detached at M24, A and B, sunny homes Dakwo homes, Dakwo District Abuja; four units of a three bedroom semi- detached bungalow, managed by Daniel at sunny homes, Dakwo District, Abuja; eight units of an Estates of two bedroom flats, at Gombe, GRA; one unit Semi-detached Duplex at house 21, 4th Avenue, Gwarinpa, Abuja; four units of a 2 bedroom semi – detached duplex at Bricks city, Kubwa road, Abuja and one unit of Semi- Detached Duplex, at 14B Democracy crescent, Gaduwa, Abuja.

    He also forfeits N325, 187, 867.18 ( Three Hundred and Twenty Five Million, One Hundred and Seven Thousand, Eight Hundred and Sixty Seven Thousand, Eighteen Kobo.