A federal high court in Abuja has discharged Rochas
Okorocha, former Imo state governor, of the N2.9 billion fraud charge preferred
against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Delivering a ruling on Monday, Inyang Ekwo, the presiding
judge, struck out the EFCC’s suit for contravening section 105 (3) of the
Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015, which gives the honorable
attorney-general of the federation (HAGF) the power to recall a case.
In a letter dated September 12, 2022, Abubakar Malami, the
HAGF, directed the commission to forward the case file as well as the
commission’s comments on the issue for review.
“All that the law required of the respondent (EFCC) was for
the respondent, when directed by the HAGF pursuant to any enactment, to comply
and not act as if it is not under the law or is exempted thereby,” Ekwo said.
“For the avoidance of
doubt, the office of the HAGF is founded on the provisions of the constitution
and is thereby preserved.
“The controversies and drama surrounding this tral
proceeding is needless and it is time to stop it.”
The judge further held that from the moment the HAGF gave
the directive to the EFCC, the commission ceased to have the legal authority to
prosecute or continue the prosecution of the case.
“In other words, the
intervention of the HAGF in any criminal proceeding ends the authority of the
prosecuting agency in the matter unless otherwise directed by the HAGF,” he
“In the end, I find that non-compliance by the respondent
with the directive of the HAGF as stated in Exhibit Okorocha 7 is fatal to this
proceeding and has rendered it a nullity.
“The respondent is not empowered by any law to continue with
this proceeding after the HAGF issued the directive in Exhibit Okorocha 7.
“With Exhibit Okorocha 7, it is only the HAGF that can
decide whether or not to charge the defendants upon the case file being
remitted to his office as directed.”
The judge also agreed with Okorocha’s submission that he
cannot be made to stand trial considering the subsisting judgment
(FHC/PH/FHR/165) of a federal high court in Port Harcourt delivered on December
6, 2021 which stopped his prosecution after faulting the probe process.
According to the judge, the order is binding until it is set
aside.
“The fact that a person refuses to comply with the law does
not change the law, neither does the law change to accommodate the act of
non-compliance by any person,” Ekwo said.
Okorocha was arraigned on a 17-count charge of money
laundering to which he pleaded not guilty in May 2022.
He was arraigned alongside Anyim Chinenye, a chieftain of
the All Progressives Congress (APC), and five companies — Naphtali
International Limited, Perfect Finish Multi Projects Limited, Consolid Projects
Consulting Limited, Pramif International Limited, and Legend World Concepts
Limited.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com