He noted that the Court relying on Dododo v. E.F.C.C. (supra) held that the 2nd respondent (EFCC) is under a duty to furnish the appellant with its investigative report.
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), who is also Arik Nigeria Limited’s lawyer has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to provide the certified true copy of its probe of Kamilu Omokide, the Receiver Manager appointed by the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), for Arik Nigeria Limited, on his alleged sale of assets amounting to over N120 billion.
Falana in the request letter for the certified true copy of the investigation report dated July 20, 2023, reminded the anti-graft agency that his application was supported by the case involving Christian Iheanyichukwu Nwanguma v The Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mrs Farida Waziri (2017) LPELR-50893 (CA) the Court of Appeal held inter alia: "Every person in this country has a right to report a crime which he has reasonable belief has been committed by a person or about to be committed when that alleged crime is reported, it remains an allegation, until the statutory body conferred with the power to examine and investigate the complaint arraigns the person. The reporter has a right to be informed of the result of his complaint."
He noted that the Court relying on Dododo v. E.F.C.C. (supra) held that the 2nd respondent (EFCC) is under a duty to furnish the appellant with its investigative report.
SaharaReporters had reported that following a petition written by Falana, the EFCC detained Onokide alongside one Captain Samuel Caulcrick in connection with the alleged illegal sale and teardown of $41 million CRJ 1000 aircraft which was operated by Arik Air.
Part of the petition read, “The details of the financial management, diversion of monies, sale of assets and misappropriation of fund are set out below: 1. Fraudulent contracts awarded: a. Aircraft lease Agreement No. OLY-ARIK/ACMI/A321/202001-21 between Olympus and Arik Air-In-Receivership, executed on November 1,2019 with the following details:
“Listed Lease Contracted Aircraft: A321 MSN1015 Reg# SX-ACP; Listed Contracted aircraft delivery date: 01 Feb 2020 and for consideration of the sum of N91,187,500.00 (Ninety-One Million, Eight Hundred and Eighty-Seven Thousand Five Hundred Naira) withdrawn from our client’s (USD) account domiciled at Keystone Bank with account No: 1006835708 on February 11, 2020. There has been no specific performance to the subject matter of the said contract up till date, no service has been carried out, nor was there aircraft or a refund of the consideration furnished for the said contract.
“A. Clobek Nigeria Limited with Company’s Registration No. 899094, a real estate firm with its registered office at Abuja purportedly entered into ACMI damp Lease Agreement with Arik Air-In-Receivership in a profit-sharing ratio of Arik 55% and 45% respectively for one Unit aircraft B737-700 MSN 38127 (E1-GVW). However, Clobek Nigeria Limited, is neither registered nor licensed as an aviation services company by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), thereby unauthorized and ineligible to provide aviation services.
“The said company received questionable payments of N579,902,982.58 for flight operations services from Arik Air-In-Receivership. The Receiver Manager abandoned the several younger Arik Air new-generation aircraft for self-gratifying lease deals and a dubious profit-sharing arrangement. A. The receiver manager executed AIRCRAFT DAMP [A.C.M.I.J LEASE AGREEMENT with Eznis Airways LCC, a Mongolian registered airline lease of one unit Boeing 737-700 Reg No E1 - Engines (the same aircraft purportedly financed by Clobek Nigeria Limited in a profit-sharing arrangement. Some records of payments for Arik Air in Receivership to Eznis are questionable, e.g., multiple security deposits, maintenance, hotel accommodation etc for being duplicated to Clobek and conflicting with aircraft usage.”
However, Omokide had debunked the allegations of being involved in N120 billion fraud and being investigated by the EFCC.