Alleged N400m Fraud: Court Strikes Out Charge Against Olisa Metuh.
▪︎ EFCC DENIES REPORT, INSISTS NO FRESH APPLICATION FOR RETRIAL OF METUH
Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday struck out the fresh charges against Olisa Metuh by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, over alleged N400 million money laundering.
Justice Nwite struck it out after considering the submissions of counsel for the defendants in the suit that a matter pending before the Supreme Court cannot be decided by the trial court.
At the day’s proceedings, counsel for EFCC, Olarewaju Adeola, told the court that the trial court had reached a decision on the matter which the defendant appealed and the Court of Appeal had set aside the judgement of the trial court, ordering a retrial by another trial judge.
He also stated that the matter is currently before the Supreme Court challenging the decision of the Appeal Court but the first defendant has an application for the release of his international passport before the trial court.
Mister Metuh’s counsel, Afam Osigwe, also told the court that his client doesn’t have any application before the Federal High Court as Justice Nkeonye Maha had made a subsisting order which allows for the effective release of his client’s passport.
He averred that the matter is a gross abuse of court process as the EFCC cannot start the matter afresh while it is pending before the apex court.
He then urged the court to either strike out the suit or stay proceeding, pending the outcome of the appeal at the Supreme Court.
In his reply, the EFCC lawyer, who agreed to the submissions of the counsel for the defendants, said the prosecution will be more comfortable if the matter is adjourned indefinitely.
Justice Nwite after listening to the submissions of all the lawyers in the suit agreed with the fact that the EFCC cannot start a fresh suit while the appeal in the suit is pending before the supreme court.
The court, therefore, struck out the suit on grounds that it is a gross abuse of the court process.
EFCC INSIST SUIT NOT STRUCK OUT
Meanwhile the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC in a release signed by its spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, says its attention has been drawn to some reports in the media, alleging that, the Federal High Court, FHC, sitting in Abuja, on Monday, September 26, 2022, “ struck out a suit filed by the Commission against former National Publicity Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Olisa Metuh, for retrial.
“We wish to state unequivocally that, there is no modicum of truth in those reports. Metuh’s case is presently pending before the Supreme Court, arising from the appeal by the Commission, as well as his own cross appeal, upon the judgment of the Court of Appeal which nullified the judgment of the trial court on alleged grounds of bias. There is, therefore, no pending case before the Federal High Court to warrant striking out of the same.
“It bears reiterating that, the EFCC, has no fresh application for retrial of Metuh before the court. There can be no striking out of a suit that was not initiated or filed before the court. Any report of striking out of a suit filed by the EFCC on Metuh, is a gross misrepresentation of the status of the case and the public is enjoined to ignore such reports.
“The EFCC is awaiting the hearing of the appeal by the apex court, concerning the ground of bias raised by the Court of Appeal, in the N400million money laundering charges instituted against him. The Commission will do nothing to abuse processes of the court, as it remains committed to total respect for the rule of law”.
