N855m fraud: EFCC asks court to declare pardon granted convicted Indian, others Illegal

By -

*Court of Appeal, Lagos


(Nigeria) The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has asked the Court of Appeal, sitting in Lagos, to declare the purported pardon granted to an Indian businessman, Ashok Israni and three others, by the Lagos State government as illegal, unconstitutional, null and void.

Addressing a special panel of the appellate court on Thursday, during the hearing of the appeal filed by Israni, and two officials of Keystone Bank, Anayo Nwosu and Olajide Oshodi, EFCC lawyer, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, submitted that there are plethora of legal authorities that pardon cannot be granted to convicts whose rights of appeal have not been exhausted.

Members of the Special Panel are: Justice Joseph Ikyegh (Presiding), Justice Ebiowei Tobi, and Justice B. Gafai.

Justice Kudirat Jose of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Igbosere, had on December 9, 2019, convicted Israni, and two officials of Keystone Bank, Anayo Nwosu and Olajide Oshodi, on an amended 15-count charge bordering on conspiracy and obtaining by false pretence to the tune of N855 million.

The Judge had sentenced them to five years imprisonment each for stealing.

The court also convicted NULEC Industries Limited belonging to Israni and Keystone Bank Limited, in her judgment.

Besides, the companies were also ordered to pay a fine of N20 million to the Federal Government on counts 1, 10 and 13, while the convicts were ordered to restitute the sum of N395 million to the victim of the fraud.

Dissatisfied, Israni and others in their separate appeals challenged the judgement of the lower court and urged the appellate court to allow the appeals, and set aside the judgement of the lower court.

However, while the appeals were still pending, and just four months after their conviction, the Appellants were released from prison by officials of the Kirikiri Centre of the Nigerian Correctional Services, NCoS, allegedly on the directive of the Lagos State Government, despite the pendency of their appeals before the upper court.

At the hearing of the Appeal today, EFCC prosecutor, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, adopted his brief of argument dated April 27, 2023, and submitted that there are several legal authorities to the effect that pardon cannot be granted to convicts whose rights of appeal have not been exhausted.

He urged the court to declare the purported pardon 'illegal' since the appellants' appeals had been filed and entered since February 13, 2020, though, it could not be heard due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forestalled judicial activities.

The EFCC further claimed that immediately after one of the appellants, Anayo Nwosu was released, he allegedly made so many publications on many social media platforms stating that he was wrongly convicted, jailed and maltreated because of the whims and caprices of the Nominal Complainant.

He urged the court to dismiss the appeal, and uphold the judgment of the lower court.

Earlier, counsel to the appeallants, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, and Mr. Biodun Owonikoko, SAN, adopted their briefs of arguments and urged the court to allow the Appeal, set aside the judgement of the lower court and acquit all the appellants of all the charges filed against them.

In his submissions, Chief Olanipekun, SAN, informed the court that the Appellants have filed an affidavit of facts which contained the instrument of the pardon granted to them by the Lagos State government, stating that it was the State that charged them to court, and it was the State that granted them bail due to upsurge in COVID-19.

After hearing arguments from parties, Justice Ikyegh reserved the appeal for judgment.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

UBTH @50: Obaseki hails institution’s role in strengthening Edo healthcare

By -
Image
(Nigeria) Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, has commended the staff and management of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, UBTH, for their unwavering commitment, dedication, and hard work in providing high-quality healthcare services to the people of Edo State and Nigeria in the past fifty years. Obaseki, at a dinner organized in honour of the Committee of Chief Medical Directors of Nigeria, at the Government House, Benin City, reassured the government’s continuous partnership and collaboration with the federal government-owned health institution to strengthen the health system and ensure quality health delivery to Edo people. The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Philip Shaibu, reeled out the gains of the government’s reforms in the health sector, commending the medical centre for bolstering the government’s efforts at transforming Edo State into a health hub. He said, "We came into a wilderness where you have to cut a part for yourself and fix it. We held
Read more

NBC has no powers to impose fine on broadcast stations --Court

By -
Image
(Nigeria) The National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, has been restrained by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, from imposing fines on broadcast stations in the country. Trial judge in the matter, Justice James Omotosho also set aside the N500,000 fines imposed on March 1, 2019, on each of 45 broadcast stations. The court made the orders in its judgment a suit by the Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda, MRA, which had sued the NBC. Justice Omotosho held that the NBC, not being a court of law, had no power to impose sanctions as punishment on broadcast stations. The court further held that the Nigeria Broadcasting Code, which gives the commission the power to impose sanction, is in conflict with Section 6 of the Constitution that vested judicial power in the court of law. He said the court would not sit idle and watch a body imposing fine arbitrarily without recourse to the law. He said that the commission did not comply with the law when it sat as a complainant and at
Read more