It appears that convicted Peoples Democratic Party bigwig, Olabode George, will remain at the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison, Lagos, for some time, despite attempts to secure his freedom.
The Court of Appeal, Lagos division, on Thursday, adjourned the hearing of his application for bail pending the determination of his appeal to December 1, 2009.
Consolidation
The decision was reached after the counsel to the other five people - who were convicted on a 47-count charge which included abuse of office (contract splitting) along with Mr. George - urged the court to consolidate the hearing of their clients' applications along with Mr. George's application. Mr. George's hearing had been fixed for Thursday while the other five applicants had not yet received a date for their own applications. "I notice that only the first applicant's (Mr. George) hearing notice was slated for today, but I believe the applications should be taken together since it was brought on the same grounds, same issues, from the same lower court, and it is also based on the same argument," said Joe-Kyari Gadzama, counsel to the fifth applicant. The counsel to Mr. George, Olatunji Ayanlaja, also asked the court to consolidate the hearing of the applications."We are partners in crime, and I think it is better that all the applications be taken together," he said.
The counsel to the prosecution - the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission - Anthony Omaghomi, argued that the court should hear Mr. George's application and fix a date for the other five applications. "We have only been able to respond to the first applicant's application. Even as at this morning, we were still being served by the other applicants."
Ruling
The panel of judges presided over by Monica Dongban-Mensem ruled that all six applications should be consolidated. Explaining why only Mr. George's application was fixed for hearing, Mrs. Dongban-Mensem, in her ruling, noted that it was the only application before the court by Friday when the hearing date was fixed. She said that it was not possible to fix a date for a matter which was not before the court. She also noted that an oral application for the consolidation of hearings could only be taken in a case where all the applications were before the court. She also said that the applications could not be immediately processed as the prosecution needed time to respond to the other applications. The panel adjourned the matter till December 1, 2009 for hearing of all the applications.
Allegations of personal interest
Yesterday's proceedings were witnessed by only three judges. One judge, Bode Rhodes-Vivour, was absent from the hearing. On Monday, the EFCC petitioned the presiding judge and the president of the Court of Appeal to reassign the case to a different panel or ask Justice Rhodes-Vivour to excuse himself from the panel hearing the case. The agency's lead counsel, Festus Keyamo, who signed the petition, alleged that Justice Rhodes-Vivour had shown personal interest in favour of Mr. George. In a telephone interview, Mr. Keyamo, declined to comment on his allegations, saying: "I don't want to comment on that, but it is in the interest of justice that he is not on the panel."
Sources familiar with the case told NEXT on condition of anonymity that Justice Rhodes-Vivour had shown more than a professional interest in the case at the lower court that led to the convictions. It is unclear why Justice Rhodes-Vivour was absent from the hearing or whether there has been any official decision stopping him from being on the panel.
History
On Monday, October 26, 2009, a Lagos High Court presided over by Justice Olubunmi Oyewole found Mr. George, Aminu Dabo, Olusegun Abidoye, Abdullahi Aminu Tafida, Zanna Maidaribe, and Sule Aliyu guilty on 47 counts of offences including abuse of office, disobedience of lawful orders, and conspiracy at the Nigeria Ports Authority board. They were sentenced to six months' imprisonment for each of the offences related to disobedience to lawful order, and two years' imprisonment for each of the offences related to abuse of office - all to run concurrently. The convicts have filed notices of appeal in court. They also filed motions for bail at the lower court, pending their appeal.
On Monday, November 9, 2009, Justice Oyewole dismissed all the applications saying they failed to provide concrete evidence to justify that they deserved to be granted bail. The convicted persons also filed similar applications for bail before the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division. In the meantime, they are to remain at the maximum security prison
Reader Comments (38)
post a comment
* = Required information