The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Abdurasheed Bawa, has made efforts to avoid imprisonment in Kuje prison after a court order.
At the end of the recent 2023 budget defence with the House of Representatives Committee on Anti-Corruption, Bawa told reporters that he has appealed the order.
He said: “Well, we have appealed against it, so we allow the natural course of law to take its effect.”
Justice Chizoba Oji had ordered Bawa’s arrest over failure to carry out the directive of Justice Muawiyah Idris in a case against Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Rufus Adeniyi Ojuawo.
Justice Idris ruled in November 2018 that EFCC had no case against Ojuawo after its inability to tender evidence beyond reasonable doubt to prosecute the Air Vice Marshal.
The agency was ordered to return N40 million cash and a Range Rover SUV seized from Ojuawo, which it had claimed the officer corruptly received from Hima Aboubakar of Societe D’Equipment Internationaux Nigeria Limited
The EFCC failed to return the items as ruled by Justice Idris, and in a recent ruling regarding the case, Justice Orji, on October 28, ordered that the Inspector General of Police should effect Bawa’s imprisonment in Kuje prison, as failure to return the items was contempt of court.
Though Bawa has appealed against Justice Orji’s order, the Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, disclosed that the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, is not aware of the directive, and the order was not addressed to the Police.
Adejobi said: “I am not aware of any order. The Inspector-General of Police too is not aware of such an order. Perhaps it was not addressed to us.”
SUPPORT NIGERIAN CANADIAN NEWS
If you like our work and want to keep enjoying what we offer, kindly support us by donating to the Nigerian Canadian News through the button below
Share your thoughts in the comments section below
Do you want to share any news or information with us? If yes, contact the publisher at publisher@test1.nascitest.club
