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Former Minister, Keyamo To Appeal Court Order Dismissing Suit Against Atiku Abubakar On ‘Special Purpose Vehicle’

Former Minister, Keyamo To Appeal Court Order Dismissing Suit Against Atiku Abubakar On ‘Special Purpose Vehicle’
June 5, 2023

 

The immediate past Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, SAN, on Monday said he will appeal the dismissal of his suit for the investigation of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar over the Special Purpose Vehicle, SPV, saga.

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja had dismissed the case filed by Keyamo against Atiku over the SPV saga principally because the court was of the opinion that the law enforcement agencies were not given enough time to commence investigations before the suit was filed, amongst other sundry reasons.

However, the minister in a statement signed by the Assistant, Head of Festus Keyamo Chambers on Monday disagreed with the reasons for the court decision and vowed to appeal.

The statement reads, “Our client respectfully disagrees with the reasons for the said decision because the law enforcement agencies did not indicate their willingness to commence investigations, even if they were given more time.

“We want to establish a legal principle that the society cannot wait as infinitum for law-enforcement agencies to do their statutory duties. The suit was designed to prompt the agencies to show their readiness to investigate.

“We are immediately filing an appeal against the said decision to the Court of Appeal as the struggle on this issue continues.”

 SaharaReporters had in January reported that Keyamo, on behalf of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council dragged Atiku before an Abuja Division of the Federal High Court.

Keyamo had sought an order of the court to arrest and investigate Atiku over bank accounts used as "Special Purpose Vehicles" to secretly divert and misappropriate public funds between 1999 and 2007.

In the Suit marked No: FHC/ABJ/CS/84/2023, which SaharaReporters sighted on Friday, Festus Keyamo, SAN is listed as Plaintiff while, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Code Of Conduct Bureau, Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission were listed as Defendants 1 to 4.

Keyamo who took to his Twitter handle to announce the filing of the suit against Atiku, had written "#ATIKUGATE: following the expiration of my 72-hour ultimatum, I have proceeded to the Federal High Court, Abuja suing Atiku, CCB, ICPC & EFCC and asking for invitation/arrest and investigation of Atiku over the SPV saga. I have a rich history of such battles & I am not stopping."