Civil society groups under the aegis of the Coalition of Civil Society Organizations in Nigeria (CSON), has accused a former Nigerian federal lawmaker, Senator Stella Oduah and Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, of conspiracy to thwart justice on the N7.9 billion fraud allegation against Oduah.
The Coalition made the allegation on Monday at a press conference held in Abuja, saying that Oduah and her co-defendants in the case have orchestrated a plot to evade justice in the case of N7.9 billion fraud levelled against them by the Nigerian government.
Calling on President Bola Tinubu for expeditious intervention to prevent the perversion of justice in the case, the Coalition recalled that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had finished its investigation into the matter and filed the case at the Federal High Court, Abuja, on December 17, 2020.
The Coalition said, “The case, with Charge No: FHC/ABJ/CS/316/2020 - Federal Republic of Nigeria vs Stella Oduah & 8 Others, was subsequently assigned to Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja and since then, two years and six months after, Senator Stella Oduah has yet to even enter the witness box, talk more of taking her plea.
“Rather, we have watched with dismay, how Hon. Justice Ekwo had deployed every antic conceivable in legal jurisprudence to frustrate the arraignment of Senator Oduah. When the matter last came up for hearing on Thursday, 15th June, 2023, Justice Inyang used another diversionary tactic to prevent Sen. Oduah from being arraigned, claiming that he will not continue with the trial until he was certain and satisfied that the security and safety of the persons involved in the trial was assured.”
The Coalition noted that at the previously adjourned date of the case, Justice EKwo complained about receiving private messages regarding the case from persons whose identities he did not disclose.
“The judge also produced a newspaper publication in court, in which he claimed that a corporate organization had threatened his life for his involvement in the case. But at the June 15th proceedings, which Sen. Oduah was present in court, rather than proceeding with the case, Justice Ekwo resorted to feigning anger and charging the EFCC to produce the persons invading his privacy and threatening his life in court on the next adjourned date.
“While the judge had adjourned the matter to July 17th 2023, it was not even for the arraignment of Sen. Oduah but for the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to report back on the owners of the corporate organization that published the article that threatened his life, and for the EFCC to fish out the culprits.
“The refusal of Justice Ekwo to arraign Sen. Oduah on the 15th of June, 2023, made it a record 15 times that he had stalled her trial on the case. The said publication threatening Justice Ekwo’s life could have been sponsored by any interested party in the case as a red herring across the trail, using masquerading individuals behind a phantom organization as proxies.
“So, will Justice Ekwo perpetually stall the case, while he sets the EFCC out on a wild goose search for some faceless individuals using a non-existent organization as a façade to publish threats against his life? For how long will Sen. Oduah and Justice Ekwo continue to make total mockery of the judiciary and the anti-corruption stance of the APC-led Federal Government?”
The Coalition further said, “Our credible intelligent sources have revealed to us that Senator Stella Oduah and other “powerful forces” within and outside the judiciary have perfected plans for her never to step into the witness box to take her plea on the case. This is the only plausible explanation why her planned arraignment has failed for 15 consecutive times.
“As part of Sen. Stella Oduah and Co’s machinations to pervert justice, they caused the seventh defendant in the case, being Crystal Television which we are reliably informed is owned by Sen. Oduah, to inform the court before the adjournment that his client had entered into a plea bargain with the EFCC, and already paid N100 million as part-payment for compounding the offence contained in the charge. He also claimed that in addition to all previous payments, his client has a balance payment of only the sum of N280,000,000 to make.
“The money which Sen. Oduah and her cohorts were alleged to have misappropriated is N7.9 billion. But they are attempting to refund a total of less than N1 billion to the Federal Government through the back door, to enable them avoid entering the witness box to take their pleas. Where is the justice in that?
“But it is trite law, which is upheld by our current legal system, that the proper thing for Justice Ekwo to have done was to allow Sen. Oduah and her co-defendants to take their pleas first. Thereafter, the letter/proposal to EFCC to compound the offence and plea bargaining will come in as a mitigating factor.
“It is never a barrier to taking a plea. Even the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) had written a letter on the matter to the court on May 6, 2022, asking that Sen. Oduah should take her plea, yet she and the court have not obliged till date.”
According to the Coalition, the essence of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA 2015) is to facilitate the prompt dispensation of justice.
It, however, noted that in Oduah’s case, its aim is being defeated with “impunity by Sen. Oduah and Justice Ekwo. Hence, since Justice Ekwo has manifestly demonstrated his bias on the matter, we see no reason why he should still be allowed to adjudicate on it. Justice delayed, they say, is justice denied.”
The Coalition, therefore, called on the President to direct the EFCC to promptly apply to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Abuja, for the transfer/reassignment of the case to another “competent and unbiased” Judge of the Federal High Court, Abuja, and to direct the EFCC to ensure that Oduah is properly arraigned for the prompt determination of the fraud charges levelled against her.