•Says Obono-Obla panel can’t prosecute
A Federal High Court in Abuja has freed the Director of Finance and Accounts in the Federal Ministry of Works, Power and Housing, Ibrahim Tumsah and his brother, Tijani Tumsah.
They were arraigned for allegedly failing to declare their assets.
Ibrahim and Tijani (Vice Chairman of the Presidential Initiative on Northeast) were arraigned on a two-count charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/4/2018, filed last year by the Special Presidential Investigation Panel on the Recovery of Public Property (SPIP), headed by Okoi Obono-Obla.
The panel had, upon an order of court, seized 86 luxurious vehicles, four houses and a quarry plant in Abuja, which the panel claimed belonged to the two defendants.
In a ruling yesterday, Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo upheld the defendant’s preliminary objection and said the SPIP lacked the power to file charges against anyone and could also not prosecute anyone for any infraction as it relates to the law that created it.
The judge said there is nowhere in the SPIP establishment Act, where the panel is given power to engage in prosecution or filing of charges on behalf of the Federal Government (FG), the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) or the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) as it has done.
Justice Ekwo said by the law establishing the SPIP – the Recovery of Public Property Act Cap R 4, LFN 2004 – its powers end after concluding its investigation on any case and submitting its findings to the President of the country.
Justice Ekwo noted that in Section 4(4) of the law, the panel is only empowered to conduct investigation and submits its reports and conclusions to the President. He added: “The function of the panel terminates at the conclusion of the investigation as provided in Section 4(4) of the Act.”
The judge noted that the prosecution lawyer, Celcius Ukpong, contradicted himself in his argument when he, on one hand, contended that he did not need the fiat of the AGF, but on the other, said he can file charges on behalf of the AGF and the Federal Government.
Justice Ekwo, who came down hard on the prosecution lawyer, faulted Ukpong’s description of the defendants as vultures, who he accused of unlawfully acquiring property, breaching code of conduct for public officers and reluctant to submit themselves for trial.
The judge said Ukpong “has failed in his ethical standard for his use of foul language. I find the language of the prosecution in paragraph four of his written address offending.
Justice Ekwo said on the whole, he found that the prosecution lawyer has not shown any law that gives the SPIP he represents, the power to file charge either in its name or in the name of the FG, FRN or the AGF.
He added that it was a criminal endeavour for an agency to file charges or engage in criminal prosecution when it lacked the powers to so act.
The judge said, by virtue of an earlier judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, to the effect that the SPIP cannot prosecute, his court’s jurisdiction is ousted on the charge against the Tumsah brothers, until the judgement is set aside by a superior court.
The judge proceeded to dismiss the charge, discharging the two defendants.
