Ikuforiji, aide seek to discharge arrest order

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Written by  Ade Adesomoju

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Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr. Adeyemi IkuforijiFile

The Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr. Adeyemi Ikuforiji, and his Personal Assistant, Oyebode Atoyebi,  have asked a Federal High Court, Lagos to discharge the bench warrant it issued for their arrest on Friday.

Ikuforiji’s counsel, Mr. Tunde Akinrimisi, in an application dated December 12, 2011, seeking the court to discharge the warrant, stated that the Economic and Financial  Crimes Commission obtained the order without “presenting  all material facts” before the court.

Akinrimisi stated in the written address in support of the application, “It is trite that where an order is obtained in the absence of a party without disclosure of all material and fundamental facts, the same would be discharged and I urge your Lordship to do so in this case.”

In a notice of appeal dated December 12, 2011, and filed before the court  by another counsel, Abiodun Onidare, the accused stated that the order and adjournment of the arraignment till January 17, 2012 “were unreasonable and a violation” of their rights.

Onidare, in the notice of appeal, sought an order allowing  appeal, and another setting aside the bench warrant.

He also sought an order of the Court of Appeal transferring the matter to another judge of the Federal High Court “for arraignment and trial.”

The counsel for the EFCC, Mr. Godwin Obla, on Friday in an oral application, urged the court to grant the order to compel Ikuforiji and his aide to face the amended 20 counts it had preferred against them.

Obla told the court presided over by Justice James Tsoho that the Speaker and his aide had reneged on their promise to voluntarily submit themselves to the agency. He said the accused were billed for arraignment on Friday.

But Akinrimisi, in the application, seeking to discharge the warrant, denied that the Speaker was attempting to evade arrest.

He stated that the Speaker “was never informed and was not made to be aware” of the fact that he would be arraigned on the said day.

He added that the accused was only invited by telephone to the Lagos office of the EFCC on Thursday (December 8) and that he (Ikuforiji) promised to honour the invitation but requested for time to preside over the sitting of the House of Assembly.

He also argued that the purported invitation on December 8 was not in writing and  that the EFCC official who made the said call did not give any reason for the invitation.

Akinrimisi alleged that the EFCC had “hurriedly charged” the accused before the court on Friday without giving notice.

Onidare stated in the notice of appeal, “In the circumstance, the order made by the learned trial judge and the adjournment of the arraignment till January 17, 2012 were unreasonable and violation of the appellant’s rights under Sections 35(1) and 36(5) of the 1999 Constitution.
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SOURCE: Punch Newspaper, 13 December 2011. http://punchontheweb.com/