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Tag: Appeal Court

  • N7.6bn fraud: A’Court mandates trial Judge to conclude Kalu’s trial before Sept ending

    N7.6bn fraud: A’Court mandates trial Judge to conclude Kalu’s trial before Sept ending

    The President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, has directed that the alleged N7.6bn fraud case of a former governor of Abia State, Orji Kalu, must be concluded before the end of September this year.

    The trial judge, Justice Mohammed Idris, who was among the 12 high court judges recently elevated to the Court of Appeal, said this on Monday at the resumed proceedings in the case at the Federal High Court in Lagos.

    Though all judges, except those designated as vacation judges, have proceeded on their annual vacation, which will end in September, Justice Idris has stayed back to hear Kalu’s case, presumably to conclude it before September when he would get busy at the Court of Appeal – his new duty post.

    Kalu’s lawyer, Prof Awa Kalu (SAN), had earlier written to the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Bulkachuwa, to release Justice Idris to enable him to conclude hearing in Kalu’s case, which is already at an advanced stage.

    The defence counsel made the request pursuant to Section 396(7) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, which allows a high court judge elevated to the Court of Appeal to conclude all partly-heard cases in his docket at the high court.

    At the Monday’s proceedings, the prosecuting counsel for the Federal Government, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), and other defence counsel, Chief K.C. Nwofor (SAN) and Solo Akuma (SAN), gave their consent that Justice Idris should conclude the case despite his elevation to the Court of Appeal.

    Kalu, who was Abia State governor between 1999 and 2007, is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for allegedly diverting N7.6bn from the state’s treasury.

    He was charged alongside his company, Slok Nigeria Limited, and Ude Udeogu, who served under him as the Director of Finance and Account, Abia State Government House.

    The defendants have, however, pleaded not guilty to the 39 charges pressed against them.


  • Extradition: Kashamu heads to S’Court, seeks overturn of A’Court ruling

    The senator representing Ogun East Senatorial District, Mr. Buruji Kashamu, has headed for the Supreme Court seeking to overturn last Friday’s judgment of the Court of Appeal, which reversed a restraining order that he secured in 2015 against the Attorney General of the Federation and several law enforcement agencies in the country.

    Kashamu had in 2015 secured a judgment of the Federal High Court in Lagos restraining the AGF and others from “abducting” him and forcefully “transporting” him to the United States of America to stand trial over alleged drug offences before Judge Norgle.

    The senator had then, through his lawyer, Mr. Ajibola Oluyede, told Justice Okon Abang that he had uncovered a plot by his political enemies to manipulate law enforcement agencies in the country to abduct and transport him to the US.

    Justice Abang, in a May 27, 2015 judgment, restrained all the defendants in the suit, including the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency from abducting and transporting Kashamu to the US, holding that he had been exonerated of the alleged crime.

    But following an appeal by the AGF, the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, in a lead judgment by Justice Nimpar Yagarta on Friday, overturned Justice Abang’s judgment.

    The appellate court ruled that Kashamu’s claim of a plot to abduct him was speculative and inadmissible in the face of the provisions of the Evidence Act.

    Displeased with the judgment, the senator, through his lawyers has, therefore, headed for the Supreme Court, seeking the apex court’s intervention.

    In the notice of appeal, his counsel insisted that Kashamu’s affidavit before the Court of Appeal was full of facts showing the conclusion of a plot by the AGF and others to abduct and transport him to the US to face trial over alleged offences in respect of which he had been exonerated.

    The counsel contended that the appellate court was wrong for holding that Kashamu ought to have waited for the alleged plot to be hatched before approaching the court to seek redress.

    “There was uncontroverted evidence before the lower court that in 2000, during the Presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo, an illegal abduction was carried out against a Nigerian citizen with the assistance of government officials and with the consent of the said President Olusegun Obasanjo.

    “The lower court was wrong in failing to see that all the information that was available to the appellant was enough to justify an apprehension of likelihood of breach of his fundamental right to liberty through his abduction by the respondents and transportation to the USA,” Kashamu’s lawyers contended.

  • Kashamu not above the law, can be arrested – Appeal Court

    The Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal on Friday nullified a ruling by the Federal High Court (FHC) which prohibited the arrest of Buruji Kashamu by Nigerian law enforcement agencies.

    The court said the senator is not above the law and should be arrested if there is a need.

    The appeal court panel led by Yargata Nimpar overturned the ruling which was delivered by Okon Abang of the Federal High Court in 2015.

    Kashamu, a serving senator representing Ogun East Senatorial District, approached Abang for the enforcement of his fundamental rights, saying he had uncovered a purported plot by Nigerian security agencies to abduct and extradite him to the United States.

    Kashamu is being sought in the U.S. on drugs charges, although he had continued to deny the allegations, saying it was, at worse, a case of mistaken identity.

    In May 2015, the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) laid a siege to Kashamu’s residence in Lagos in a bid to arrest and send him to the U.S. to face drugs charges. For the ensuing six days, Kashamu reportedly locked himself inside a toilet and refused to submit himself to federal authorities.

    His lawyers successfully prevailed on Abang to grant an order forbidding the NDLEA from carrying out the arrest. The agency subsequently withdrew its personnel, ending the six-day siege.

    The office of the Attorney-General of the Federation filed several submissions before the FHC, seeking to arrest Kashamu for extradition. But the attempts were frustrated by several injunctions granted by Abang, prompting the AGF to seek redress at the Court of Appeal.

    Kashamu had argued before the FHC that there were plots to arrest him and take him to the U.S. over a matter for which he had been cleared by judicial authorities in the United Kingdom between the late 1990s and early 2000s.

    But U.S. authorities insisted that Kashamu must come to the country to face drugs charges for which several of his alleged co-conspirators had been tried, convicted and jailed.

    In 2016, a U.S. Court of Appeal in Chicago, Illinois, ruled that Kashamu must answer his drugs allegations in U.S. courts.

    Despite all the controversies surrounding Kashamu’s case, the U.S. authorities have not publicly disclosed whether they sought Kashamu’s extradition or not. But some legal analysts said there was no need to make such request public, adding that the NDLEA’s move to arrest him and send him to the U.S. was enough grounds to conclude that the U.S. was interested in the matter.

    Consequently, the Court of Appeal ruled that the appeal has merit and set aside the order of perpetual injunction secured by Kashamu.

    However, Kashamu in a swift reaction to the ruling on Friday afternoon said the judgement had nothing to do with his extradition. He insisted that he had no pending extradition case anywhere in Nigeria.

    This was revealed in a statement by Kashamu’s media aide, Austin Oniyokor.

    Read full statement below:

    PRESS STATEMENT

    KASHAMU: I’VE NO EXTRADITION CASE IN COURT

    My attention has been drawn to today’s judgment of the Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos in an appeal filed by the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) against the judgment delivered by the Federal High Court, Lagos, in my favour in a fundamental human rights enforcement suit.

    Let me state from the outset that contrary to the wrong impression being created by a section of the media, there isn’t any extradition matter against me in any court in Nigeria or abroad. The illegal move surreptitiously introduced by the powers-that-beafter the 2015 abduction plot was exposed has been dismissed. That was in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/479/2015. The suit was dismissed on the 1st of July, 2015, for being an abuse of court process. Anything to the contrary is sheer mischief and over sensationalism by some reporters.

    As journalists and judicial reporters who are expected to seek and report the truth at all times, they should know that there is NO extradition case against me anywhere. The Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice appealed against the judgment of the Federal High Court in the fundamental human rights enforcement matter comprised in Suit No.FHC/L/CS/508/2015 which I had instituted in 2015 upon becoming aware of the surreptitious moves by certain persons to abduct me illegally and transport me to the U.S.A. without recourse to the rule of law.

    In its judgment in Suit No: FHC/L/CS/508/2015,the Federal High Courtrestrained the Federal Government, its agents and agencies from abducting and forcibly transporting me to the United States of America over the same allegations that two British courts had adjudicated upon and found that to bea case of mistaken identity.

    So, clearly what was appealed and decided upon by the Court of Appeal today has nothing to do with extradition. Rather, it was about the failed 2015 abduction.

    Let me reiterate that in the face of the law, I do not have any extradition case to answer. Shun of all political manipulations and wizardry in Nigeria where political opponents pull down people to climb up the political ladder, I do not have any extradition case to answer.

    I wish to say for the umpteenth time that there is no way any extradition proceedings can be brought against me in the face of the law. What I have been fighting is the attempt to abduct or kidnap me in the guise of an extradition. It is a matter of public record that the purported extradition case that was filed against me in May 2015 was dismissed by the Federal High Court, Abuja, for being an illegality. It could not stand the test of the law. The case could not have seen the light of the day in Nigeria or any civilized country. That was the point the trial judge, the Honourable Justice Gabriel Kolawole made in the judgment when he described the incident as “a show of shame”. He found it incomprehensible that any government official or agency could want to take any step or collaborate with some foreign agents under any guise to perpetrate an illegality after several courts had given judgments against such an action.

    So, in the face of the law, that case cannot be brought again! Any other talk or insinuations about a non-existent extradition only exists in the imagination of the mischief-makers. Therefore, there cannot be any other extradition but abduction and an illegality.This is even more so when the judgment of the British Courts that found the allegation against me to be a case of mistaken identity was not appealed. If a court of competent jurisdiction has pronounced that I AM NOT the person who committed the offence and same verdict has been upheld by our own courts, there is no way this finding and pronouncements of the court can be jettisoned for illegality.

    It is this illegality that the Senate frowned at in a resolution passed on the 11th of April, 2017.

    The Senate through its Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions resolved, “That the concerned agencies and authorities be advised to stop threatening or carrying out any activities to extradite Senator BurujiKashamu to the United States of America for prosecution, and that the courts be allowed to handle the various aspects of the case before them without any interference.”

    Despite the fact that the British courts had exonerated me, I have an abiding faith and believe in our judiciary. We have many people in the judiciary from rich background and reputable families. They do not have to be judicial officers. But, today they are judicial officers because of the call of the Almighty Allah upon them. They sit in courts five days in a week, taking cases and writing judgments upon judgments in long hands. They deny themselves of the freedom that the rest of us enjoy. They cannot have friends and live their lives freely like the rest of us.

    Invariably, by accepting to do the job most of us cannot do, they are sacrificing a lot. They belong in the class of some of the best and finest men and women that a society can ever ask for; powerful people yet self-effacing with the fear of God. They know that even when they are judges, they are still conscious of the fact that they are also accountable to the Almighty Allah who is the ultimate judge.

    Despite the imperfections in the system, we should respect them because they represent the unseen hands and unheard voices contributing their quota to the development of our dear country. It is because of these unseen hand and unheard voices that Nigeria has not become a banana republic where injustice can be perpetrated with reckless abandon.

    Mischief makers and blackmailers should stop all the noise-making. I do not have anything to do with crime and criminalities. Those peddling this lie are merely playing the devil’s advocate. But I take refuge in the Almighty Allah Subwana ta Allah. He is my shepherd and shield. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil.

    In the meantime, my lawyers have filed a Notice of Appeal and a Motion for injunction pending the determination of the appeal to the Supreme Court of Nigeria. And I trust that the apex court will do justice. I also wish to use this medium to appeal to all my associates, lovers, supporters and leaders to remain calm. The truth shall prevail over falsehood as light triumphs over darkness.

     

    Signed

    Senator Buruji Kashamu

    Ogun East Senatorial District

     

  • BREAKING: Appeal Court reserves ruling on Kashamu’s extradition

    BREAKING: Appeal Court reserves ruling on Kashamu’s extradition

    The Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, has reserved judgment in the appeal filed by the Federal Government seeking the extradition of the senator representing Ogun East, Buruji Kashamu, to the United States of America.

    The Federal Government claimed to have received a request by the US Government to deliver Kashamu up for prosecution for his alleged role in an illicit drug deal in the US.

    But Kashamu had, in 2015, secured two separate judgments by Justices Okon Abang and Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court restraining the Federal Government from delivering the senator to the US.

    But the Attorney General of the Federation approached the Court of Appeal seeking to overturn the judgments of Justices Abang and Buba, to pave the way for Kashamu’s extradition.

    Counsel for the AGF, Emeka Ngige (SAN), told the appellate court on Thursday that Kashamu concealed material facts before Justices Abang and Buba, where he obtained restraining orders against the Federal Government.

    According to him, Kashamu’s suits, which were decided by Justices Abang and Buba, were based on mere hearsay, contending that the two lower court judges miscarried justice.

    He claimed that Justices Abang and Buba failed to evaluate the documentary evidence placed before them before giving their verdicts.

    Ngige urged the three-man Appeal Court panel, presided over by Justice Joseph Ikhegh, to overturn the two judgments and give force to Kashamu’s extradition.

    But he was opposed by Kashamu’s lawyer, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), who insisted that the decisions by the high court judges were in order.

    Fagbemi urged the court to dismiss the Federal Government’s appeal.

    The court, after the parties had argued and adopted their written addresses, reserved judgment in the appeal till a date to be communicated to the parties.

  • Alleged $1m fraud: Appeal Court dismisses Fred Ajudua’s application

    The Appeal Court, Lagos Division, has dismissed an application filed by a serial fraudster, Fred Ajudua, and affirmed the ruling of Justice J. E. Oyefeso of the Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos in a $1 million fraud case.

    Mr. Ajudua and his accomplice, Joseph Ochunor, sometime in 1993, allegedly defrauded one Ziad Abu Zalaf of Technical International Limited, a Germany-based company, of the sum of $1million

    The case had been struck out on February 16, 2009 by a former trial judge, M. O. Obadina, sitting at the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, when the appellant refused to appear in court for his arraignment in 24 adjournments between April 24, 2005 and February 16, 2009.

    Justice Obadina, while striking out the case, had ordered the Commission to apply for re-listing of the case whenever the appellant was available within the jurisdiction of the court.

    In view of this, the commission had filed a motion dated January 25, 2017 for an order of the court re-listing the case.

    Following the transfer of Justice Obadina from the Ikeja division to Lagos State High Court, the case file was returned to the Lagos State High Court’s archive in Ikeja.

    However, when the appellant suddenly re-appeared before Justice J. O. K. Oyewole( now JCA) in charge No. ID/41c/2013- FRN vs. Fred Ajudua, the commission, in a letter dated December 18, 2013, had applied to the Chief Judge of Lagos State High Court for the case to be re-assigned to another court for trial.

    The commission, however, did not receive reply to the letter.

    As a result, the commission had to write another letter dated June 20, 2016 to the Chief Judge of Lagos State.

    The case was, thereafter, assigned to Justice Oyefeso for trial.

    It was listed in Justice Oyefeso’s court list for mention on December 14, 2016, while the commission subsequently brought a motion for re-listing the case on January 25, 2017.

    However, the appellant had later filed a notice of preliminary objection challenging the competence of the commission’s motion to re-list the information.

    In her ruling on April 27, 2017, Justice Oyefeso had dismissed Mr. Ajudua’s preliminary objection and granted the Commission’s application for re-listing of the information.

    In a notice of appeal dated May 5, 2017, Mr. Ajudua had appealed to the appellate court to strike out the ruling of the court.

    However, in a judgment delivered on Thursday, February 8, 2018, the appellate court dismissed the appeal in appeal No. CA/ 589C/17 and affirmed the decision of the trial court.

     

  • Appeal Court sacks APC Rep member in Katsina, orders fresh elections

    The Federal Court of Appeal sitting in Kaduna has nullified the election of member of the House of Representatives representing Mashi/Dutsi Federal Constituency of Katsina state, Hon. Mansir Aliyu Mashi of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

    The court which affirmed the judgement of the Election Petition Tribunal, which had earlier ruled on the matter, however ordered the third respondents in the appeal, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct fresh elections in 15 polling units where the elections were either marred with irregularities or did not hold.

    Election Petition Tribunal which sat in Katsina after the by-election had on the the 15th November nullified the election of Hon. Mansir Aliyu Mashi on the ground that election was marred with irregularities, ranging from ballot box snatching, failure of election to hold in some polling units among others and ordered fresh election in those polling units.

    Delivering the Appeal Court judgement on Friday, the Presiding Judge of Court of Appeal, Kaduna, Justice Umani Abba Aji said, the lower tribunal was right in its rulings, which nullified the election of the first appellant, Hon. Mansir Aliyu Mashi.

    Justice Abba Aji in the almost an hour judgement said, since, evidences and exhibits presented before the court have shown that, the elections in the said polling were marred with irregularities and the number of registered voters from the affected polling units if they were not disenfranchised can change the outcome of the election, the right thing to do is to have a fresh election in the polling units.

    Speaking shortly after the judgement, counsel to one of the respondents, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s candidate, Hon Nazif Bello Yusuf, Barrister Napoleon Idenala said, they were satisfied with the judgement.

    He said the court has once again reaffirmed that, impunity cannot be tolerated in the society.

    Also reacting to the case, Chairman of the PDP in Katsina State, which is one of the respondents in the appeal, Alhaji Salisu Yusuf Majigiri expressed satisfaction with the judgement and said his party was prepared to mobilise its supporters and win the election.

    He however said, all concerned authorities must wade in to ensure that the ruling part, APC does not violate the electoral laws like the previous election.

  • JUST IN: Patience Jonathan loses at Appeal Court, to forfeit N5.7m to FG

    The Court of Appeal in Lagos on Friday dismissed an appeal filed by wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan, Patience, over the temporary forfeiture of her $5.7million.

    She had appealed against a ruling by the Federal High Court in Lagos which temporarily ordered the money’s forfeiture to the Federal Government.

    The Court of Appeal upheld the temporary forfeiture order made by Justice Mojisola Olatoregun on April 26 last year.

    She made the order based on an ex-parte application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) through its counsel, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo.

    The judge also ordered the temporary forfeiture N2,421,953,522.78 found in an Ecobank Nigeria Limited account numbered 2022000760 in the name of La Wari Furniture and Baths Limited.

    The Commission said the money also belongs to Mrs. Jonathan.

    The Court of Appeal similarly dismissed an appeal filed by La Wari Funiture and Baths.

    Through her lawyer, Chief Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), Mrs. Jonathan urged the court to declare Section 17 of Advance Fee Fraud Act unconstitutional for being in conflict with the Evidence Act and the 1999 Constitution.

    In a judgment delivered by Justice Mojeed Owoade, the appellate court held that the appeals lacked merit.

    It upheld Oyedepo’s arguments and resolved the issues against the appellant.

    The court upheld the constitutionality of Section 17 of the Advance Fee fraud Act, which empowers the EFCC to apply for the forfeiture of property reasonably suspected to be proceed of unlawful activity to the federal government.

  • Appeal Court orders INEC to go ahead with Anambra senatorial re-run election

    The Court of Appeal on Thursday in Abuja dismissed a motion seeking to restrain Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from conducting the re-run election into the Anambra Central Senatorial District.

    Delivering the judgment, Justice Abubakar Yahaya held that the earlier order made on Nov. 20, 2017 directing INEC to conduct election for the senatorial seat within 90 days could not be reversed.

    The judge said such action was not recognised by the court’s practice direction, adding that the panel would not succumb to an invitation to make mockery of the judiciary.

    “The court hereby refuses to grant the request for the postponement of the election already scheduled for Saturday,” the judge held.

    Yahaya also said that the court could not compel INEC to make any undertaken to postpone the election over an application that was not ripe for hearing.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, we have not restrained INEC from conducting the election as ordered by this court on Nov. 20, 2017’’, Yahaya said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Sen. Ani Okonkwo, an aggrieved aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had approached the appellate court with the application.

    Okonkwo had through his counsel, Chief Solomon Umoh (SAN), sought for leave to appeal against the Nov. 20, 2017 decision of the court of appeal, which ordered INEC to conduct a re-run election in that senatorial district within 90 days.

    Okonkwo had claimed that he was interested in challenging the decision of the appellate court last year as a senatorial aspirant.

    He, however, averred that the application could not be entertained because most parties joined in the application were not served with the court processes.

    In order to meander this legal tight corner, Okonkwo then applied for an adjournment to enable him effect service on all the parties.

    Worried that he could lose out since the election had been slated for Jan.13, the applicant filed a motion seeking the court to bar INEC from holding the election pending the determination of his appeal.

    He also urged the court to compel INEC’s counsel, Mr Tanimu Inuwa, to make an undertaken in the open court that INEC would not go ahead with the election having been aware of his pending application.

    The counsel for INEC immediately objected to the request on the ground that huge public fund had been expended on preparation for the poll.

    Inuwa also said he did not have the powers to make any undertaken to postpone the poll because of the subsisting appeal court judgment of Nov. 20.

    He submitted that decision compelling his client to hold the election within 90 which was billed to expire on Jan.13.

  • Oando heads to Appeal Court over ‘biased’ SEC sanctions

    Oando PLC has challenged at the Appeal Court the findings and sanctions on it by the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), following an alleged investigation, which began in May 2017.

    SECs had placed technical suspension on Oando PLC shares and ordered a forensic audit into the company’s affairs.

    A statement published on Oando’s website on Friday states that in addition to legal action, it has written several petitions to various arms of the government expressing concern at the way the SEC under the leadership of ex-Director General, Mounir Gwarzo, managed the investigation and their belief is that the investigation was biased, did not follow due process and lacked fairness.

    The company added that a recent leak of the signed September 18, 2017 report of the Technical Committee that was set up by Gwarzo to investigate them is further proof that under his leadership actions taken by the commission were illegal, invalid and calculated to prejudice the business of the company.

    Gwarzo set up a five-man committee to investigate the company and on conclusion present a report with findings and recommendations for sanctions. The report shows that the committee found that Oando had satisfactorily responded to all the issues raised by the petitioners and had further recommended that the responses provided by the company and its independent external auditors be forwarded to the petitioners for their information and further escalation if they deemed it necessary.

    The report makes no recommendation for the shares of the company to be suspended or for a forensic audit of the company to be conducted.

    Instead, the committee recommended that certain unresolved issues be forwarded to the Securities and Investment Services (SIS) department of the Commission to determine whether there was in fact a breach of the ISA or the SEC Rules.

    On 27 September, 2017, the Committee of the House of Representatives on Capital Markets and Institutions summoned Gwarzo and mandated him to complete his investigation into Oando and issue a report within two weeks of that meeting.

    They also requested that they be sent a copy of the report of the investigation, its findings and recommendations.

    “It is interesting to note that Gwarzo failed to inform the House of Representatives that at the time the meeting was held, the signed Technical Committee report had already been submitted. It wasn’t until a month after, on Wednesday, 18 October 2017 that the SEC published a statement on its website detailing alleged infractions committed by Oando and weighty penalties, which included a directive to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) for a 48-hour full suspension followed by a technical suspension in the trading of Oando shares and for a forensic audit into the affairs of the company to be conducted,” the website explained.

    Against this background, the company cites a multitude of other reasons why it believes the investigation was biased and thus flawed.

    Among the reasons were the fact that some of the actions taken by the then DG were against SECs rules and regulations.

    Under the SEC rules, the Administrative Proceedings Committee (APC) is the committee empowered to look into matters of the nature of which the petitioners alleged.

    However, Gwarzo did not utilise this committee but instead set up a Technical Committee and later a Special Task Force to investigate Oando.

    SEC laws state that the DG does not have the legal or administrative authority to set up committees; only the board can do this.

    However, at the time of the investigation, SEC had no board and even if it did, there was a committee already in place that could investigate the company.

    There is also the legality of SEC investigating a petition brought by an indirect shareholder and one that is currently in arbitration when SECs rules categorically state that it will not consider any complaints regarding matters that are already the subject of arbitration or court proceedings.

    In Oando’s statement, it cites the example of MRS Oil and Gas PLC, where the SEC stopped investigating and a call for a forensic audit into MRS when it was brought to the regulators attention that there were ongoing arbitration proceedings in France between Petroci Holdings and MRS.

    The company and its shareholders have continuously raised concerns at the public nature of the investigation. At the company’s AGM in August, shareholders had spoken out about the substantial amount of media attention the investigation was receiving.

    According to the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCE), Oando PLC, Wale Tinubu: “The SEC investigation and continued media leaks have had a deleterious impact on market confidence, our share price and a negative impact on other critical stakeholders.”

    The statement makes mention of further bias by SEC agreeing to meet with the petitioners but not Oando during the course of the investigation despite several requests by the company for a meeting.

    The reclassification of one of the petitioners, Ansbury Inc. as a whistleblower despite the fact that Ansbury brought its petition to the SEC as an indirect Oando shareholder and previous SEC investigations, ie Ikeja Hotels, where the SEC did not suspend the shares of the company when it embarked on a forensic audit.

    More recently when SEC released its alleged findings and sanctions, the company was quick to respond and point out to the SEC and the public that the alleged infractions all have specific SEC penalties, none of them whether singularly or together warrant the suspension of the trading of Oando shares or the institution of a forensic audit.

    The company’s most ardent objection to the forensic audit is the fact that SEC has itself said it needs to do an audit to confirm its weighty findings. It is unjust to make a company pay N160 million to be investigated so the regulator can confirm whether its findings are indeed correct or true. It begs the question how did the regulator come about its weighty findings?

    The company’s biggest concern is that because all actions to date have been illegal and biased then a forensic audit could also be biased.

    This is not the first legal action taken by the company against SEC on this investigation but its recent actions is evidence that it won’t back down and will fight SEC until justice prevails.

    Consequent to the indefinite suspension of Gwarzo on allegations of corruption by the Minister of Finance, the SEC had notified Oando that it would commence the forensic audit with effect from December 6, 2017. According to the company, the appointed auditors are yet to approach the company to commence the audit.

    Oando concluded the statement by expressing willingness to comply with the directives of the commission.

    The company said: “Despite our objections to the forensic audit, the company would like to reiterate that we recognise and respect the authority of the commission and in the spirit of cooperation, transparency and full disclosure, the company will comply with the directives of the commission whilst reserving our legal rights in this matter.

    “Accordingly, we welcome the appointment of Dr. Abdul Zubair as the Acting Director-General (ADG) of the SEC and see this as an opportunity for the regulator to act independently and for a new and enduring relationship to be established. We trust that he will investigate the matters raised in an independent and transparent manner and look forward to his support in ensuring due process is indeed followed.”

    The company reiterated that it recognises and respects the authority of the SEC and is hopeful that a new and independent DG will act in the best interests of the company and its 274,000 shareholders.

     

  • Remaining 3-count charges: “That aspect of the judgment will not stand” – Saraki

    Barely 4 hours after the Court of Appeal in Abuja on Tuesday dismissed 15 out of the 18 count charges filed against Senate President (SP) Bukola Saraki, the Nigerian SP has responded saying, “That aspect of the judgment will not stand”.

    “We noted the verdict of the Court of Appeal today in which it agreed with the decision of the Code of Conduct Tribunal that Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki has no case to answer on 15 of the 18 charges filed against him by the Federal Government.

    “On the remaining three counts, which really touch on two issues, referred back to the Tribunal for the Senate President’s defence, it should be noted that the Appellate Court only gave a summary of its decision today promising to provide the parties with Certified True Copies of the Judgment soon.

    “As soon as it makes the details of the judgement available, our lawyers will review the grounds of the decision and take appropriate action.

    “We remain convinced about the innocence of the Senate President on the three (or two) counts because we believe the decision of the Court of Appeal is not consistent with the submissions made by both parties at the Tribunal.

    “Thus, it is our view that that aspect of the judgment will not stand, Saraki responded in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu.

    “We believe that upholding the no case submission by Dr. Saraki with regards to 15 of the 18 counts charges vindicates the innocence of the Senate President.

    “At least, today’s judgement has confirmed the position of the Tribunal that the prosecution’s case was entirely based on hearsay, not on any concrete evidence.

    “The verdict of the Court of Appeal, just like that of the Tribunal before it, aligned with our position that the preposterous claims made during trial by the prosecution concerning operation of foreign accounts, making anticipatory declarations, collecting double salaries, owning assets beyond his income and failure to declare assets owned by companies in which the Senate President owns interests, among others, have fallen like a pack of cards and lack any basis.

    “The confidence and faith of Dr. Saraki in the nation’s judiciary and its ability to dispense justice to all manners of people remains unshaken, the statement further read.