Court rejects EFCC’s bid for bench warrant on Igbinedion, others

[NewsCaster]

LEGAL moves by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to issue a bench warrant on former Governor Lucky Igbinedion of Edo State and six other standing trial in a 66-count charge bordering on diversion of state funds into private use may have hit a brick-wall.

Reason: The Federal High Court sitting in Benin City yesterday rejected the EFCC plea for the bench warrant. But thousands of youths and market women thronged the Ikpoba Hill premises of the hearing, protesting over what they referred to as a retrial of the case that was already heard and decided by a Federal High Court, Enugu in 2008.They called on the anti-graft agency not to allow itself to be used for political vendetta.

In the case number FHC/11C/11 involving the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Lucky Igbinedion, Patrick Egboibodin, Michael Igbinedion, Gava Corporation, Romrig Nigeria Limited, PML Securities Company Limited and PML (Nigeria) Limited, before Justice Adamu Hobon, EFCC counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, urged the court to issue a bench warrant on the accused for their failure to physically appear in court.

He backed his arguments from the All Federation Weekly Law Report.

But lead counsel to the accused, Rickey Tarfa, argued that the accused persons already had a motion against the charges which he said was a retrial haven been tried on the same allegations and convicted in Enugu. He said since they were saying that the case was a retrial, the application against the trial should be argued first.

In his ruling, Justice Hobon said: "It is certainly not proper in law for accused persons not to be in court. But in the whole, haven considered all the circumstances and argument of all counsel, I ordered that accused persons shall put on appearance in the next sitting and the application in opposition of the charge be heard without further delay." He adjourned the case to March 22.

Speaking on behalf of the protesters, Onanefe Onifoya, alleged that the former governor's travail was politically motivated, haven been tried on the same issues before.

"This is a case of some people just trying to destroy the former governor's image. A man cannot be punished twice for the same offence. Is it a crime for him to support people in politics he thinks share his vision and ideology? This is punishment and not a case of seeking justice," he said.

Igbinedion and the other co-accused are facing a 66-count charge, which count one alleged that the former governor converted N250 million, "which you illegally derived from the Local Government Joint Allocation Account (JAAC) Edo State on the pretense that the said amount was for the provision of security during the 2007 local government election in Edo State."

Source: Court rejects EFCC's bid for bench warrant on Igbinedion, others