A Federal Capital Territory, FCT, High Court in Garki, Abuja on Tuesday cleared legal practitioner Dr Ted Iseghohi-Edwards of alleged fraud relating to services rendered to the 774 local government councils.
The case concerns his 159 million dollar professional fee claim for legal and consultancy services to the councils in connection with the multi-billion-dollar London and Paris Clubs refunds.
The Federal Government paid the fee through 10 promissory notes worth 15.9 million dollar each, following court proceedings over the contractual obligations and payments.
Justice Suleiman Belgore, in his judgment, upheld the fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by Iseghohi-Edwards, ruling that the respondents violated his rights by arresting, detaining and threatening to arrest and prosecute him.
Iseghohi-Edwards was retained by the Incorporated Trustees of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) to represent the 774 local government councils in the London and Paris Clubs refunds matters.
The respondents in the suit, marked CV/2569/26, are the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN).
Justice Belgore held that an EFCC report dated Aug. 14, 2024, accused the applicant of fraud but was fabricated to damage his reputation.
The report, with Reference No. EFCC/EC/AGF/07/VOL.1/70, was titled “Re: Request for investigation report on London-Paris Club matters.”
The judge noted that the 2024 report lacked depth and contradicted earlier reports issued by the EFCC and the Department of State Services (DSS) in 2016.
He held that the earlier investigations had cleared the lawyer of wrongdoing in connection with the same matter.
Justice Belgore held that, having previously investigated and cleared Iseghohi-Edwards, the EFCC and DSS could not issue a contradictory investigative report five years later to overturn their earlier findings.
Describing the EFCC’s 2024 report as a contrivance intended to tarnish the applicant’s image, the judge ordered that the report be declared void.
He found no evidence of criminality or fraud against the applicant in the earlier investigation reports issued by the EFCC and DSS.
The judge also found evidence of a valid contractual agreement between Iseghohi-Edwards and ALGON, supported by several judgments tendered before the court.
Justice Belgore said: “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.”
The judge held that the 10 promissory notes issued to the applicant were validly authorised by then-President Muhammadu Buhari in compliance with a valid order of mandamus made against the Federal Government by a Federal High Court.
The notes represented the payment arrangement connected to the 159 million dollar professional fee claim arising from the applicant’s engagement by ALGON.
Justice Belgore faulted the AGF and the EFCC for subjecting court judgments obtained by the applicant to their own investigations.
He said the respondents were wrong to question the authenticity of the promissory notes issued under President Buhari.
The judge granted 20 of the 21 reliefs sought by the applicant, ruling that the respondents and their agents had no legal right to investigate purely civil matters already adjudicated by courts of competent jurisdiction.
He held that such investigations violated, and could further violate, the applicant’s fundamental rights.
Justice Belgore also issued a perpetual injunction restraining the respondents and their agents from criminalising or impugning the integrity of judgments and decisions delivered by competent courts.
He further restrained the respondents from “petitioning, questioning, further inviting, arresting, harassing, taking statements, impeding the movement of, harming, shooting, killing, charging, prosecuting, detaining and imprisoning the applicant in relation to the same issue of the London and Paris Clubs refunds”.
EFCC counsel L. P. Apo commended the judge for the industry demonstrated in delivering the judgment.
Apo said the EFCC issued its 2024 report, which alleged that the applicant fraudulently obtained the judgments, because Iseghohi-Edwards had instituted proceedings against the Federal government in the United States.
He explained that the US proceedings sought to dematerialise the promissory notes issued in connection with the fee claim.
The counsel said the report was prepared under pressure from higher authorities after Iseghohi-Edwards assigned his promissory notes to third parties in the United States, where they threatened to sue the Federal Government..
Reacting to the judgment, the applicant’s lawyer, Idumodin Ogumu, also commended the judge and urged the government and its agencies to obey court decisions.
The London and Paris Clubs refunds arose from efforts to recover excess deductions from states’ and local governments’ allocations for external debt repayments between 1995 and 2002.
Payments to consultants engaged in the refund process sparked controversy over professional fees, prompting investigations and court cases concerning alleged fraud, contractual obligations and the validity of payments.
Iseghohi-Edwards’ 159 million dollar fee claim relates to legal and consultancy services provided to ALGON and the 774 local government councils.
The payment was structured into 10 promissory notes valued at 15.9 million dollar each.(NAN)
TOA/ROT
========
Edited by Rotimi Ijikanmi
(function(){try{var u=”https:\/\/nannews.com.ng\/wp-json\/nan\/v2\/track\/pageurl”,p=934144;if(navigator.sendBeacon){var d=new FormData();d.append(“pid”,p);d.append(“url”,location.href);navigator.sendBeacon(u,d);}else{var x=new XMLHttpRequest();x.open(“POST”,u,true);x.setRequestHeader(“Content-Type”,”application/x-www-form-urlencoded”);x.send(“pid=”+p+”&url=”+encodeURIComponent(location.href));}}catch(e){}})();