Return Olisa Metuh To Prison – EFCC Urges Supreme Court

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has urged the Supreme Court to reverse the December 16, 2020 judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which voided the conviction and sentencing of the former National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh, and his firm, Destra Investments Limited.

In three separate notices of appeal filed by its lawyer, Sylvanus Tahir, the EFCC also urged the apex court to void the Appeal Court finding that a former National Security Adviser (NSA), Mohammed Sambo Dasuki, was indicted in the February 25, 2020 judgment by Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

In the verdict, Justice Abang had convicted Metuh and his firm for money laundering, sentencing the politician to seven years in prison and ordering that the company be wound up.

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But the Court of Appeal revered the judgment on the grounds that the trial judge exhibited bias in handling the case and ordered a retrial.

The Court of Appeal, in a third appeal by Dasuki, upheld the appeal and set aside some aspects of the trial court’s judgment which it said indicted the ex-NSA.

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In the two notices of appeal filed against the judgment of the Appeal Court on Metuh and Destra, the EFCC raised 10 grounds of appeal.

The commission prayed the Supreme Court to either set aside the Appeal Court’s judgment and restate that of the trial court, or invoke its power under Section 22 of the Supreme Court Act to “do what the Court of Appeal ought to have done in going into the merit of the case, as determined by the trial court, to decide if the appeal should have been dismissed or not”.

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In the alternative, the EFCC prayed the Supreme Court to set aside the judgment of the Appeal Court and remit the case back to the court for its President to constitute a fresh panel to hear it on merit.