Ex-Rivers State Governor, Peter Odili
After 18 years of being protected and shielded by a ‘perpetual injunction’ granted by Justice Ibrahim Buba (now retired) of the Nigeria Federal High Court, the road is now opened and cleared for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to drag the former Rivers State governor, Mr. Peter Odili, to give account of his Stewardship in the state.
It would be recalled that Justice Buba (now retired) in 2007, while grant an application brought before him by Odili’s team of lawyers, perpetually restrained the EFCC from investigating and prosecuting him.
The decision which was upheld by the Nigeria’s Court of Appeal.
However, with strong determination to have the former oil-rich State to give account of his stewardship, the EFCC approached the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court, which eventually upturned all that he’d been ruled and decided by both the federal and Appeal Courts.
To upturn the decisions of the two courts, the Supreme Court dismissed two appeals filed by the Rivers State’s Attorney-General and the Speaker of the state’s Assembly seeking to set aside the leave granted the EFCC to challenge an order prohibiting the investigation of the tenure of Peter Odili as Governor of the state.
On Monday, when the appeal filed by the AG, Rivers, marked: SC/CV/318/2018 was called, Justice John Okoro, who presided over a five-member panel, sought to know the substance of the case.
Appellant’s lawyer, S. A. Somiari (SAN), explained that it was an interlocutory appeal against the leave granted by the Court of Appeal for the EFCC to appeal the 2007 orders issued by the Federal High Court.
While Somiari was still battling to highlight the relevance of the appeal, Justice Okoro interjected and told him that “this is not the type of appeal we hear here”.
Justice Okoro also asked Somiari and other parties in the case to return to the Court of Appeal to have the substantive appeal heard before coming to the Supreme Court.
Realising the court’s disposition to his case, Somiari subsequently applied to withdraw the appeal, which application was not opposed by the EFCC, Abubakar Mahmud, who led Sylvanus Tahir (SAN) and B. O. Obialo, who appeared for the other respondents.
Ruling, Justice Okoro said: “Appeal is dismissed, having been withdrawn without any objection.”
Similar treatment was accorded to the appeal marked SC/CV/447/2018 by the Speaker of Rivers State House of Assembly.
With the decision of the Supreme Court, the coast is now clear for the EFCC not only to arrest the former governor Odili, but to also investigate and prosecute his regime.
