A National Coalition of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) under the umbrella body of Concerned Nigeria Citizens has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to as a matter of urgency, direct the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to ensure that Sen. Stella Oduah is properly arraigned before the court for the prompt determination of the fraud charges levelled against her by the Federal Government.
The National Secretary of the Coalition, Comrade Femi Osabinu in his speech at a press briefing on Monday in Abuja, also urged President Tinubu to use his good office and sound discretion to direct the EFCC to promptly apply to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Abuja, for the transfer/reassignment of Charge No: FHC/ABJ/CS/316/2020 – FRN v Stella Odua & 8 Ors, to another competent and unbiased Judge of Federal High Court, Abuja.
Osabinu further prayed that the President should cause an independent investigation into the reason(s) Senator Stella Oduah and her co-defendants have not been arraigned for almost 30 months after the EFCC had concluded its investigations and filed the case of conspiracy, money laundering and maintaining anonymous bank accounts against them at the Federal High Court, Abuja.
While speaking further, Osabinu said the coalition made the following prayers in good faith, as part of their noble contributions to promoting probity and accountability in the Nigerian public service, bearing in mind the anti-corruption posture of the APC-led Federal Government.
He said: “In furtherance of our unflinching commitment to deepening the tenets of democracy and eradicating corruption in our society; we, the Coalition of Civil Society Organizations in Nigeria, wish to draw the attention of the general public to the well-orchestrated plot by Senator Stella Oduah and her co-defendants, to evade justice in a case of N7.9 billion fraud leveled against them by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“We specifically wish to implore the President and Commander-in-Chief, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, to expeditiously intervene and prevent the pervasion of justice on the case.
“We vividly recall that the EFCC had since finished its investigation on the matter and filed the case at the Federal High Court, Abuja, on 17th December 2020.
“The case, with Charge No: FHC/ABJ/CS/316/2020 – FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA vs STELLA ODUAH & 8 OTHERS, was subsequently assigned to Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja; and since then, 2 years and 6 months after, Senator Stella Oduah has yet to even enter the witness box, talk more of taking her plea.
“Rather, we have watched with dismay, how Hon. Justice Ekwo had deployed every antic conceivable in legal jurisprudence to frustrate the arraignment of Senator Oduah.
“When the matter last came up for hearing on Thursday, 15th June 2023, Justice Inyang used another diversionary tactic to prevent Sen. Oduah from being arraigned, claiming that he will not continue with the trial until he was certain and satisfied that the security and safety of the persons involved in the trial was assured.
“At the previously adjourned date of the case, Justice EKwo complained about receiving private messages regarding the case from persons whose identities he did not disclose.
“He equally produced a newspaper publication in court, in which he claimed that a corporate organization had threatened his life for his involvement in the case.
“But at the 15th June proceedings, in which Oduah was present in court, rather than proceeding with the case, Justice Inyang resorted to feigning anger, and charging the EFCC to produce the persons invading his privacy and threatening his life in court on the next adjourned date.
“While the judge had adjourned the matter to July 17th 2023, it was not even for the arraignment of Sen. Oduah, but for the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to report back on the owners of the corporate organization that published the article that threatened his life, and for the EFCC to fish out the culprits.”
Osabinu also lamented that the refusal of Justice Ekwo to arraign Sen. Oduah on the 15th of June, 2023, made it a record 15 times that he had stalled her trial on the case.
“The said publication threatening Justice Ekwo’s life could have been sponsored by any interested party in the case as a red herring across the trail, using masquerading individuals behind a phantom organization as proxies.
“So, will Justice Ekwo perpetually stall the case, while he sets the EFCC out on a wild goose search for some faceless individuals using a non-existent organization as a façade to publish threats against his life? For how long will Sen. Oduah and Justice Ekwo continue to make total mockery of the judiciary and the anti-corruption stance of the APC-led Federal Government,” he queried.
Osabinu, however, disclosed that the coalition’s credible intelligent sources have revealed that Senator Stella Oduah and other “powerful forces” within and outside the judiciary have perfected plans for her never to step into the witness box to take her plea on the case.
“This is the only plausible explanation why her planned arraignment has failed for 15 consecutive times. As part of Sen. Stella Oduah and Co’s machinations to pervert justice, they caused the seventh defendant in the case, Crystal Television which we are reliably informed is owned by Sen. Oduah, to inform the court before the adjournment that his client had entered into a plea bargain with the EFCC, and already paid One Hundred Million Naira as part-payment for compounding the offence contained in the charge.”
“He also claimed that in addition to all previous payments, his client has a balance payment of only the sum of 280,000,000 to make.”
“The money which Sen. Oduah and her cohorts were alleged to have misappropriated is N7.9 billion. But they are attempting to refund a total of less than N1billion to the Federal Government through the back door, to enable them avoid entering the witness box to take their pleas.”
“But it is trite law, which is upheld by our current legal system, that the proper thing for Justice Ekwo to have done was to allow Sen. Oduah and her co-defendants to take their pleas first.”
“Thereafter, the letter/proposal to EFCC to compound the offence and plea bargaining will come in as a mitigating factor. It is never a barrier to taking a plea. Even the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) had written a letter on the matter to the court on 6th May, 2022, asking that Sen. Oduah should take her plea, yet she and the court have not obliged till date.” He stated.
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