Olisa Metuh Vs EFCC: Court Of Appeal Trashes Justice Okon Abang With 12 key Statements

(1) “The narrative of the trial judge(Justice Okon Abang) suggest someone who didn’t enjoy trying the appellant(Olisa Metuh) and counsel because he said they were picking on him.(2) “He(Justice Okon Abang) was struggling with the case and even wished that he should be recused out of the case. The influence from this narrative is indisputably to say the least that a trial judge was angered only in his mind that he was wrongly influenced and showed bias against the appellant(Olisa Metuh) in this case as this is what manifests from all the outburst, he(Justice Okon Abang) has infused in his judgment.

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(3) “Learned trial judge(Justice Okon Abang) showed in his comments, the influence of an abnormal desire all inclination to pursue a predetermined line of action against the appellant.

(4) “This no doubt is an influence of bias against the appellant (Olisa Metuh). There is no way the learned trial judge( Justice Okon Abang) can be seen to be detached from the malice against the appellant(Olisa Metuh) in the case as alleged.

(5) “The duty of a trial judge is to be completely neutral in the case before him. A judge must not only be impartial; he must be seen to be impartial to both sides.

(6) “His(Justice Okon Abang) duty is to sit and determine the issues raised by parties and to conduct an examination into the parties. He(Justice Okon Abang) is not an umpire just yet. His job is to find out the truth and do justice according to law.

(8) “Appellants(Olisa Metuh) has been able to convince us in this court( Court of Appeal) from the records shown and from all the utterances of the judge(Justice Okon Abang) that there is likelihood of bias signifying that he( Okon Abang) was no freeman while the trial was going on.

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(9) “If this is (The type of Judgment Okon Abang delivered against Metuh) allowed, it will set a dangerous precedent and that is never allowed by our constitution. Trial that was conducted in a hostile atmosphere without any regard to the constitutional right of the person accused can never be upheld.

(11) “The learned trial judge (Justice Okon Abang) unfortunately has shown the whole world that much was into that judgment than what was put in evidence before the judge.

(12) “It was in this respect that we (Appeal court panel Judges) cannot ignore it. This court(Court of Appeal) in its duty, set that decision( of Justice Okon Abang on Metuh) aside. Judgment of the lower court delivered on 25th of February 2020 cannot stand because of the evidence of bias. It is accordingly annulled.”

A three-man panel led by Justice Stephen Adah in a unanimous judgment, delivered on Wednesday, held that the proceedings of the Federal High Court leading to the conviction of Metuh and his company, Destra Investment Limited, were tainted with bias, and therefore must not be allowed to stand.

Justice Adah, who delivered the lead judgment, held that the utterances of the trial judge, Justice Okon Abang, in the course of the trial, established that he was biased against the convicts.
He, therefore, ordered that trial be conducted afresh.

He directed that the case file be sent back to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for reassignment to another judge other than Justice Abang.