Alex Enumah in Abuja
A former Aviation Minister and senator, who represented Anambra North in the ninth Senate, Senator Stella Oduah, on Tuesday denied knowledge of a fresh criminal charge brought against her by the police in the name of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Mrs Oduah insisted that apart from not been served with the purported charge, she was never subjected to any kind of investigation by the Nigeria Police Force or any other security agency in the country.
She spoke through her lawyer, Chief Ogwu Onoja (SAN), shortly after Justice James Omotosho of a Federal High Court in Abuja, ordered the investigation of the charge against her.
While one Ochogwu Ogbe and Ibrahim Mohammed, who claimed to be personnel of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), had on June 26 filed an eight-count charge bordering on forgery and altering the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate belonging to the former minister, Mohammed had appeared on behalf of the police to prosecute the matter.
Not being satisfied with the charge, the judge after confirming from the witness that he has been disengaged from the EFCC since November last year, directed the anti-graft agency to investigate the fact of the matter and report back within one week.
Reacting, Oduah through her lawyer, Onoja, maintained that she was never invited to make any statement by any agency of government before the spurious charges were made.
Onoja, while faulting the charge, pointed out that there is no proof of evidence bearing Oduah’s statement as required by law and that no single witness from NYSC was listed.
Besides, the senior lawyer claimed that the two police lawyers responsible for the filing of the charges did so without affixing their lawyer practising seals, while the address where the purported charge emanated from, indicated EFCC’s office at number 1, Court Road, Benin City, Edo State.
He stated that from the findings, it could not yet be ascertained whether the police or the EFCC was behind the charge.
Meanwhile, Onoja disclosed that the anti-graft agency denied knowledge of the charge when his legal team visited the EFCC’s headquarters for investigation on the faceless charge.
“The spurious allegations against our clients of not participating in NYSC has been dismissed by the Supreme Court in her favour. This country has had enough” he said, while warning that prosecutorial authorities should not be for hire by political hirelings, adding that the fresh charge against his client is a violation of the Code of Conduct for prosecutors as issued by the Federal Ministry of Justice and punishable under Article 7, part B of the Code.
The senior lawyer thanked Justice Omotosho for ordering the immediate arrest of the lawyer that issued the charge and appeared for prosecution, noting that the action of the judge is a confirmation that the court was not comfortable with all anomalies contained on the face of the charge.
He then vowed to issue a petition to the Inspector General of Police for investigation and to call to order those bringing the image of the police into disrepute, while another petition would be forwarded to EFCC to investigate impersonation and abuse of its prosecutorial powers.
“This is a new political dispensation which has promised adherence to rule of law and accountability, we need a breath of fresh air,” he said.
