The story is from premiumtimesng.com
The former governor may have fled to escape trial.
Efforts by
operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to arrest the
former Kogi State Governor, Abubakar Audu, Tuesday, failed as the ex-governor
allegedly fled his 32 Suleiman Barau Street, Aso Villa, Asokoro, Abuja,
residence.
The attempted
arrest of the former governor, who is accused of fraudulently enriching himself
to the tune of over N4 billion while he was Kogi Governor between 1999 and
2003, followed a Supreme Court ruling of November 23 which dismissed the
ex-governor’s appeal to continue to protract his corruption trial by the EFCC.
The Supreme
Court ruling clears the way for Mr. Audu’s fresh arraignment by the anti-graft
commission
Mr. Audu was
arrested in Jos in 2006 after a six months manhunt by operatives of the
Commission, before his earlier arraignment at the Kogi State High Court on
December 1, 2006, on an 80-count charge of conspiracy, fraud, criminal breach
of trust, and embezzlement of public funds.
The EFCC,
while the case lasted at the High Court, caused issuance of nolle prosequi by
the former Attorney- General of Kogi State, John Agbonika and the
Attorney-General of the Federation, Bayo Ojo on February 8, 2007 for the case
to be discontinued at the Kogi State High Court as the Commission claimed to
have lost faith in the handling of the matter by the State High Court.
A nolle
prosequi meant the commission was no longer interested in pursuing the case at
the court.
“In my
capacity as the AG of Kogi state in collaboration with the AG of the Federation
and by virtue of the power vested in me by Section 211 of the Constitution of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 and Section 253 of the CPC and all the
powers enabling me in that behalf, I Dr. John Alewo Agbonika hereby inform this
honourable court that I no longer intend to continue the prosecution of this
case in collaboration with the AG of the Federation to whom I had given a fiat
to prosecute this case,” Mr. Agbonika,, the former Kogi State Attorney General,
said.
But rather
than discontinue the matter in the spirit of the nolle prosequi, the trial
judge went ahead as he further referred two questions to the Court of Appeal
for determination.
In a
judgement delivered by Bode Rhodes-Vivour, the Supreme Court held that the
Court of Appeal was wrong to consider the questions referred to it for
determination after being aware from the records of Appeal that a nolle
prosequi had been filed.
“This is so
because there is/was nothing before the trial court, so there would be nothing
for the Court of Appeal to send back. It amounted to an academic exercise for
the Court of Appeal to waste judicial time considering questions from a case
that is no longer in existence. There was no longer live issue to be
considered by the Court of appeal in view of nolle prosequi filed in the trial
court”, the Supreme Court ruled.
Part of the
setback suffered by the EFCC in the prosecution of the case was the filing of
several applications by the defendant for stay of proceedings at the high court
pending the final determination of the appeal.
Mr. Audu had
on December 12, 2011, through his lead counsel, Mike Ozekhome, filed the stay
of proceedings motion supported by an 11-paragraph Affidavit. This was 26 clear
days after the Supreme Court of Nigeria on November 16, 2011, struck out a
similar application he filed on January 24, 2011.