Edwin Clark |
Ibrahim Lamorde |
James Ibori |
An oral
application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) seeking the
leave of the court to summon a former Minister of Information, Edwin Clark for
contempt of court has been refused by Justice Gabriel Kolawole.
At a resumed
hearing to determine the owner of the $15 million alleged bribe offered by
former Delta State governor, James Ibori to the former EFCC chairman, Nuhu
Ribadu, the counsel to the commission, Rotimi Jacobs complained of statements
credited to Mr Clark suggesting that the proceedings filed by the EFCC was
based on falsehood as such the agency’s boss Ibrahim Lamorde should be sacked.
Mr Jacobs argued
that the statements credited to Mr. Clark in some newspapers which arose from a
media briefing convened by the Ijaw leader are prejudicial. He urged the court
to summon Mr. Clark to appear before it to answer questions as to why he made
prejudicial comments that touches on live issues in a pending case.
The former
minister had, during a press briefing on the issue of an application for
forfeiture of the alleged Ibori bribe which the EFCC had brought before the
court, thrown his weight behind claims by the Delta state government that the
money belonged to the state and should be returned to it. He called for the
sack of Mr. Lamorde over his roles in the plot to have the sum forfeited to the
Federal Government.
He claimed that Mr
Lamorde has his eyes on the percentage of the sum that will come to his office
if the money is forfeited to the federal government and accused the anti-graft
agency boss of falsifying the records for his ulterior motives.
In his response to
the application by the EFCC for Mr. Clark to be summoned by the court, the
Attorney General of Delta state, Wilson Ajuya, called on the court to be
cautious and not to waste precious time pursuing an issue that is outside the
matter before it.
He further noted
that summoning the elder statesman at this time will be premature since the
court is yet to read and acquaint itself with the newspaper reports upon which
the EFCC is basing their application.
In his ruling to
the application, Justice Kolawole said Mr. Clark is not a party in the suit
pending before his court and that dwelling on comments made by non-parties in a
suit amounts to searching for the cure for ring worm in a case involving
leprosy.
The court however
called on Nigerians, especially lawyers like Mr. Clark who ought to know, to
desist from making comments on matters pending before the court as that will
prejudge the outcome of the case.
The court also
advised the EFCC to file a formal application to enable Mr. Clark respond
accordingly in line with his constitutionally guaranteed right to fair hearing.
Meanwhile, another
person, Olalekan Bayode, had also applied to be joined in the Ibori bribe money
matter on a public interest locus.
Mr. Bayode wants
the government not to release the $15 million to Delta state government but
rather to set up a Trust to manage the money on behalf of Nigerians. He hinged
his argument on the repatriated funds retrieved from corrupt politicians in the
past which could not be accounted for.
The judge
adjourned further proceedings to 19 November at 11 am.
0 comments:
Post a Comment