SAN FRANCISCO, January 19, (THEWILL) – The Federal High Court in Lagos has refused the plea to vacate the bench warrant it issued for the arrest of a former Governor of Enugu State, Chimaroke Nnamani.
The application was struck out by Justice Chuka Obiozor as he turned down the plea made by Nnamani’s lawyer, Mr. Rickey Tarfa (SAN), insisting that the ex-governor must be produced before him in respect of a N5.3bn fraud charge.
The Judge also struck out Nnamani’s application challenging the court’s jurisdiction and seeking a perpetual injunction to restrain the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from arresting him.
“The request for an order to discharge the bench warrant against the first defendant before me, for now, is hereby refused,” he ruled.
“This is without prejudice to the renewal of the application at the next adjourned date.”
The Judge, thereafter, adjourned the case till February 20, 2018, at the instance of the EFCC prosecutor, Mr. Kelvin Uzozie, who pleaded for time to consult with the anti-graft agency on how to proceed with the case.
The case, which had been handled by no fewer than three judges, was last year December transferred to Justice Obiozor, who fixed December 4 for the re-arraignment of the defendants.
But following the failure of Nnamani to appear in court, the Judge issued a bench warrant for his arrest.
His lawyer had in December claimed that the ex-governor was in the United States of America, bedridden in a hospital, where he underwent a heart surgery and presented a photograph, showing Nnamani on the sickbed.
But the EFCC lawyer, Uzozie, claimed that the photo had been in circulation on the internet since 2014.
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