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| Chief Edwin Clark |
The legal battle over claims to the controversial $15m the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission said former Delta State governor, Chief James Ibori, offered as bribe commenced on Monday.
The suit commenced with Federal Government asking an Abuja Federal High Court to summon a first Republic information minister and Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, to explain why he should not be charged for contempt of court over statements he allegedly made concerning the matter.
The Federal Government, through the EFCC, and the Delta State Government are claiming ownership of the $15m, but a private citizen, Mr. Olalekan Bayode, represented by a United Kingdom-based lawyer, Mr. Femi Aina, joined the fray on Monday, asking the court not to forfeit the cash to any of the two government. Aina wants the court to order that the bribe money be placed in a trust to be used for the general wellbeing of Nigerians.
In the build up to the commencement of hearing, a lawyer, Mr. Timipa Okponipere, had filed a suit, claiming the cash for the government and people of Delta State, but the application was dismissed after the state government denied authorising the action.
Also, a businessman, Mr. Chibuike Achigbu, had approached the court to claim the cash, saying the $15m was not bribe money from Ibori, but campaign contribution by a group of businessmen to the Peoples Democratic Party.
Achigbu said the sum was handed over to a former presidential aide, Dr. Andy Ubah, now a Senator, for onward transmission to the EFCC for verification to ensure that the alleged donation did not contravene the law.
Achigbu eventually withdrew the application.
The Abuja FHC had on July 24, 2012 granted an interim order forfeiting the $15m to the Federal Government and adjourned to hear an application for final forfeiture of the sum to the Federal Government, while also ordering other prospective claimants to come forward.
Only the federal and Delta State governments were available to claim the money when the hearing commenced on Monday, with a third party, Bayode, adding a twist by asking the court to deny the requests of the two governments.
The hearing commenced with an oral application by the EFCC counsel, Chief Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, asking the court to summon Clark to explain why he (Clark) should not be cited for contempt of court over alleged statements attributed to him in a national daily of September 26, 2012.
Jacobs averred that the elder statesman commented on salient and live issues in the substantive application which were prejudicial to the suit.
At a press briefing in Abuja on September 25, 2012, Clark had, while insisting that the $15m belonged to Delta State Government, asked President Goodluck Jonathan to sack EFCC chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, from office.
He alleged that Lamorde played some roles in the $15m offered to the former EFCC chairman, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, by Ibori.
Clark alleged that there were contradictions and lies in the affidavit deposed to by the EFCC concerning the Ibori’s $15m bribe.
For example, he said the affidavit deposed to on August 10 2012 by Bello Yahaya, a Police officer attached to the EFCC on behalf of the anti corruption agency, “put the anti-graft agency not only in ridicule, but portray it as an agency not transparent, competent and committed to war against corruption”.
Although the judge, Kolawole, admitted that he had not read the publication in question, Jacobs argued that the statements made by Clark were prejudicial to the suit and prayed the court to summon him to explain why he (Clark) should not be cited for contempt charges.
However, the Attorney-General of Delta State, Mr. Ajuyah, opposed the oral application, and asked the court to be cautious in granting the request.
Ajuyah said the court should not waste any time pursuing an issue that is outside the matter placed before it.
Aina associated himself with Ajuyah’s position, and asked the court to, instead, make an order restraining any of the parties in the suit from making comments on the substantive matter.
In his ruling, Kolawole refrained from granting Jacob’s request “at this point.”
But he noted that the court would be willing to reconsider the application to summon Clark if the EFCC decides to formally file a written application to that effect.
Kolawole was also of the view that it might not be necessary to summon Clark since he was not a party to the suit.
Source: Punch
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