…Faults FG over probe of ALGON lawyer
By Ikechukwu Nnochiri
ABUJA—A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, sitting in Garki, yesterday, set aside an investigation report by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, which alleged fraud in the London/Paris Club refunds involving the 774 local government areas in the country.
In the judgment, Justice Suleiman Belgore faulted the Federal Government for directing the anti-graft agency to investigate the matter despite two separate court decisions.
The judge held that the Federal Government acted beyond its powers by directing the EFCC, through the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, to investigate court judgments ordering payment to a consultant, Dr. Ted Iseghohi-Edwards, for legal services rendered in the matter.
Justice Belgore noted that the directive came after the government had issued promissory notes for the payment following a clearance report by the Department of State Services, DSS.
He held that the EFCC’s subsequent report amounted to an affront to the authority of the court.
“The law and the court must be respected. They are both official and statutory. It is not within the powers of the Respondents to use Exhibit GG to impugn the integrity of the court by claiming the judgement was obtained fraudulently,” he held.
The judge said the appropriate course for the Federal Government was to file processes seeking to set aside the judgments rather than investigate them.
“There were negotiated terms of engagement between the Incorporated Trustees of ALGON and the applicant. These terms of engagement were renegotiated by parties in open court on September 15, 2016,” Justice Belgore added.
He held that the 10 promissory notes issued to Iseghohi-Edwards in compliance with a valid order of mandamus made against the Federal Government by the Federal High Court were validly issued by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Consequently, the court upheld the suit filed by the Abuja-based lawyer, holding that there was unassailable evidence that he was retained by the Incorporated Trustees of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON, to represent the 774 local government areas in the London/Paris Club refunds matter.
Among the reliefs granted, the court barred the Federal Government and its agencies from arresting, detaining or prosecuting the plaintiff, or infringing on his fundamental rights in connection with the matter.
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