A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja yesterday turned down a request by? the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for the court to summon the Ijaw leader and former information minister, Chief Edwin Clark to explain why he was commenting on a matter before the court.?
Clark had on September 25, 2012,? called on President Goodluck Jonathan to sack the EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, for being untruthful in the $15 million bribe allegedly offered by former Delta State Governor, Chief James Ibori, to Nuhu Ribadu, the pioneer EFCC boss.
He also adduced reason for his claims that the $15m bribe belonged to the Delta State Government.
Addressing journalists in Abuja, Clark, who listed what he described as the contradictions and lies in the EFCC affidavit about the Ibori’s $15 million bribe, said: “The affidavit, sworn on August 10, 2012, by Bello Yahaya, a police officer attached to the EFCC, on behalf of the anti-corruption agency, put the anti-corruption agency not only in ridicule, but portrayed it as an agency not transparent,not competent and not committed to war against corruption.”
“In paragraph seven of the affidavit, he claimed, ‘That I know as a fact that the said $15 million is an unclaimed property and no one has claimed or shown any link to the sum’.
This is not true as in September 2009, the Delta state elders and leaders’ stakeholders forum, in a protest march that took them to the Central Bank of Nigeria premises in Abuja, submitted a written petition to the Governor of Central Bank, urging him to refund the money to the Delta State Government as James Ibori as an individual could not have raised the said huge sum.
While delivering a ruling on EFCC’s request to summon the Ijaw leader, Justice Gabriel Kolawole held that the application was not just orally made but that he didn’t read the said statement of Clark in the newspaper.
Justice Kolawole also stated that Clark is neither a party nor counsel in the matter before him. He warned that although it may amount to ‘’treating a ringworm instead of leprosy’’ by allowing such EFCC application to divert court’s attention from the main issue, the commission is at the liberty to file formal application to summon Clark before him.
The trial judge asked EFCC lawyer, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) to file motion on notice to give Clark ample opportunity for the right to fair hearing.
Meanwhile,? a London based lawyer, John Olufemi Aina? has filed an application on behalf of an individual, Olalekan Kayode? asking the court to remit the $15 million bribe money to him on trust for the public.
Aina asked the court not to forfeit the money to the federal government on the grounds that all the looted funds recovered by the federal government from the family of the late General Sani Abacha, Cicilia Ibru, ex-Governor Joshua Dariye up to Halliburton were re-looted by government officials.
He said he will constitute a trust committee on behalf of Nigerians who shall determine what project to execute with it for the benefit of the general public.
Justice Kolawole adjourned till November 11 to hear all the necessary applications but asked the parties to serve all applications filed on the other parties in the matter before the next adjourned date..
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