Uyiekpen Giwa Osagie, the lawyer to Atiku Abubakar, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate at the last general election, was on Friday, granted leave to travel to the United Kingdom for medical treatment, by a Federal High Court, Lagos.
Justice Nicholas Oweibo granted leave to Uyiekpen while delivering a ruling on his application seeking to vary the bail terms granted him by the court when he was arraigned for allegedly laundered the sum of $2 million USD.
However, Uyiekpen younger brother,  Erhunse Giwa-Osagie, who also requested to travel to the United State of America (USA) for follow-up treatment on cough related ailment was refused by Justice Oweibo.
TribuneOnline recalls that Uyiekpen, who is a partner in the law firm of Africa Law Practice (ALP) and his brother, Erhunse, are both standing trial for money laundering.
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The Giwa-Osagie brothers were arraigned before the court on August 14, on two counts charge bordering on conspiracy and money laundering by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Specifically, the EFCC alleged that the two brothers had on February 12, 2019, aided one another to launder the sum of $2 million, without going through a financial institution.
The offences according to the prosecution are contrary to sections 18(c), 18(a), 1(a), 16(1), (d) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 as amended and punishable under Section 16, 16(2)(b)16(2)(b) of the same Act.
However, the two brothers had both pleaded not guilty to the offences and they were admitted to bail in the sum of N20 million with two sureties in like sum.
The court also ordered the two brothers to deposit their international passport with the court’s Deputy Chief Registrar (DCR) till the determination of the charges against them.
The brothers, however, filed an application to vary the bail term, especially, for the release of their international passport to enable them to travel to the USA and UK, for follow-up medical treatment.
At Friday’s proceedings, the EFCC had stated that the two brothers have failed to show that their medical cases cannot be handled in any Nigerian hospital. It added that the medical reports attached to the applications are not from government hospitals.
In particular, the EFCC stated that  Erhunse Giwa-Osagie letter of invitation from an American Hospital is undated and unsigned. It, therefore, urged the court to refuse the applications.
Ruling on the two applications on Friday, Justice Oweibo however, ordered that Atiku’s lawyer should file an undertaking that he would return to the country after his treatment and that on his return to Nigeria, he should return the passport to the Court’s DCR.
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