Court Hands over Prosecutor to EFCC for alleged frivolous charges on Sen. Oduah

A drama erupted at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday when a Judge of the Court, Justice James Omotosho handed a police lawyer, Ibrahim Mohammed to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for filing an alleged criminal charge against Senator Stella Oduah.

 

The police lawyer is to be investigated for filing the 8-count charges against the former Minister of Aviation in the name of EFCC without the authority of the anti-graft agency.

 

Although the embattled lawyer who left the EFCC in November last year admitted errors in filing the controversial charges in error with the name of the anti-graft agency, the Judge ordered that the genuineness of his errors must be established through investigation.

 

Justice Omotosho had queried the police lawyer on whether the anti-graft agency was in the know of the charges since it was being prosecuted by the Police.

 

Senator Oduah was expected to be arraigned before the court on eight count charges bordering on alleged complicity surrounding her National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate and fraudulent receiving money from the Federal Government.

 

However, when the matter was called, Stella Oduah was not in court and the Judge sought to know why she was absent in court.

 

Responding, Mohammed who introduced himself as a lawyer with the Police Legal Department, Force Headquarters, Abuja, told the court that the defendant was not in court because she has not been served with the charge.

 

According to him, Senator Oduah had told them she was not feeling well when invited to come for the charge.

 

Reacting, the court queried why the charge is coming in the name of EFCC when the prosecutor is from the Police.

 

The police lawyer who suddenly became incoherent in the ways of answering questions from the Judge admitted that he left EFCC in November 2022 at the Benin office for the Force Headquarters on redeployment back to the police.

 

He also admitted filing the charges on June 22 this year in the name of EFCC, seven months after, but that it was done in error.

 

Justice Omotoso who was not pleased with the claim of the error ordered his Registrar to bring the head of the police unit at the Federal High Court into the courtroom.

 

The Judge then ordered the police personnel to lead the police lawyer to the EFCC headquarters and hand him over to the commission’s operatives for investigation on the genuine criminal charges.

 

Further hearing in the matter was shifted to July 18 when the anti-graft agency must have completed its investigation and report back to the court.

 

Reaction:

 

In a reaction, the former Minister of Aviation, Senator Stella Oduah has said that the fresh criminal charges brought against her in the name of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) were fraudulent.

 

Though she claimed not to be aware of the charges, the former Minister explained that it was gender-political violence against her.

 

Speaking on her behalf, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief James Ogwu Onoja, maintained that Senator Oduah was not invited to make any statement by any agency of government before the spurious charges were made by the duo of Ochogwu Ogbe and Ibrahim Mohammed, who claimed to be lawyers with the Police.

 

The senior lawyer, while faulting the charges said that they have no proof of evidence bearing Mrs Oduah’s statement as required by law while no single witness from the National Youth Service Corps NYSC was listed to give evidence.

 

Besides, Onoja claimed that the two Police lawyers responsible for the filing of the charges did so without affixing their lawyer practicing seals while the address where the purported charge emanated indicated EFCC’s office at number 1, Court Road, Benin City, Edo State.

 

Dominica Nwabufo