Fraud: Court Issues Warrant to Arrest Lagos Speaker
- By Onyewuchi Ojinnaka
- Published December 12th, 2011
- News
- Unrated
A Federal High Court Lagos presided over by Justice James Tsoho last Friday issued a bench warrant for the arrest ofAdeyemi Ikuforiji, Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly and Oyebode Alade Atoyebi, his personal assistant.
The order to arrest the duo was sequel to their failure to appear in court for arraignment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on alleged criminal charge of money laundering involving the sum of N518 million.
By the order, they are compelled to be in court on next adjourned date to face a criminal charge. Justice Tsoho made the order following an oral application by Godwin Obla, EFCC Counsel, who accusing the speaker of breaking his promise to submit himself to the anti-graft agency. EFCC had filed a twenty-count charge against Ikuforiji and Atoyebi, who were billed for arraignment before Justice Tsoho on Friday.
When the matter was mentioned, Obla told the court that he was informed by the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) in charge of the matter that the accused persons were requested to present themselves to the EFCC on Thursday, but that they pleaded that they should be allowed to present themselves on Friday, adding that the duo has again failed to keep to their undertaking. Consequently, he urged the court to issue an order compelling the accused men to appear in court, a request which was granted by the court. The judge adjourned the matter to January 17, 2012 for arraignment.
Reacting, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) accused the EFCC of acting unprofessionally and sensationalizing the anti-corruption fight by seeking to ambush and embarrass the speaker over the fraud allegation.
In a statement issued in Osogbo, Osun State, by Alhaji Lai Mohammed, its national publicity secretary, the party stated that the EFCC had already invited the media to cover a planned arraignment of the speaker on Friday, even when he and his lawyers have not been informed of the arraignment.
It said if the EFCC had followed the normal procedure, it would have served the speaker a summon or informed his lawyers of the plan. ‘’Instead, they phoned the speaker late on Thursday that they wanted him to report to their office to shed more light on their investigations, to which he responded that he was sitting till late and would honour the invitation on Friday.
‘’Unknown to the speaker, the EFCC had perfected the plan to detain him if he had reported to their office on Thursday, and then transport him in a Black Maria to court Friday morning for arraignment.
“Although the Speaker and his lawyers were kept in the dark, the EFCC had gone ahead to invite the media to cover the arraignment. This is not how to fight corruption. It is mere sensationalism, the type that has opened the EFCC to charges of playing to the gallery and of portraying suspects as when they have not been tried and convicted,’’ the party further stated.
The order to arrest the duo was sequel to their failure to appear in court for arraignment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on alleged criminal charge of money laundering involving the sum of N518 million.
By the order, they are compelled to be in court on next adjourned date to face a criminal charge. Justice Tsoho made the order following an oral application by Godwin Obla, EFCC Counsel, who accusing the speaker of breaking his promise to submit himself to the anti-graft agency. EFCC had filed a twenty-count charge against Ikuforiji and Atoyebi, who were billed for arraignment before Justice Tsoho on Friday.
When the matter was mentioned, Obla told the court that he was informed by the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) in charge of the matter that the accused persons were requested to present themselves to the EFCC on Thursday, but that they pleaded that they should be allowed to present themselves on Friday, adding that the duo has again failed to keep to their undertaking. Consequently, he urged the court to issue an order compelling the accused men to appear in court, a request which was granted by the court. The judge adjourned the matter to January 17, 2012 for arraignment.
Reacting, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) accused the EFCC of acting unprofessionally and sensationalizing the anti-corruption fight by seeking to ambush and embarrass the speaker over the fraud allegation.
In a statement issued in Osogbo, Osun State, by Alhaji Lai Mohammed, its national publicity secretary, the party stated that the EFCC had already invited the media to cover a planned arraignment of the speaker on Friday, even when he and his lawyers have not been informed of the arraignment.
It said if the EFCC had followed the normal procedure, it would have served the speaker a summon or informed his lawyers of the plan. ‘’Instead, they phoned the speaker late on Thursday that they wanted him to report to their office to shed more light on their investigations, to which he responded that he was sitting till late and would honour the invitation on Friday.
‘’Unknown to the speaker, the EFCC had perfected the plan to detain him if he had reported to their office on Thursday, and then transport him in a Black Maria to court Friday morning for arraignment.
“Although the Speaker and his lawyers were kept in the dark, the EFCC had gone ahead to invite the media to cover the arraignment. This is not how to fight corruption. It is mere sensationalism, the type that has opened the EFCC to charges of playing to the gallery and of portraying suspects as when they have not been tried and convicted,’’ the party further stated.
