EFCC plans fresh charges against Tompolo, Akpobolokemi over Maritime varsity land

THE Federal Government has been ordered to produce former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) in court on February 16, 2016 to answer to criminal charges filed against him.

Judge of the Federal High Court, Abuja, Justice Adeniyi Ademola, who gave the order, said it is mandatory for a defendant in a criminal matter to be physically present in court at every stage of the prosecution except where the presence of an accused is excused by court for reasons.

Justice Ademola’s order was provoked by the failure of government to produce Dasuki to court yesterday. Dasuki’s counsel, Joseph Daudu, (SAN), also complained bitterly that his client was abducted by security agents of the Federal Government six weeks ago to an unknown destination.

The counsel told Justice Ademola that since Dasuki has been whisked away, his family members and his lawyers have been unable to have access to him.

Daudu, who also recalled that in three different High Courts where Dasuki was arraigned by the Federal Government, all three courts had admitted him to bail, expressed regret that up till date the government and its agents have refused to allow Dasuki go on bail. He urged Justice Ademola to compel the government and its agents to respect the decision of the court, having joined issues with the defendant in court.

Justice Ademola said: “I am worried that the accused is not here. I do not want to set a bad precedent. Except the court gives express order for the defendant not to be in court, the accused must be brought to court from wherever he is.
“The accused must be here because I am not sure if what I am doing right now in the absence of the accused is not an illegality.
“Government and whoever is concerned must endeavour to do the necessary thing. The accused having been formally charged in court must be produced in court for trial on the appointed days in compliance with provisions of the law.”
Counsel to the Federal Government, Dikpo Okpeseyi (SAN), had earlier applied for withdrawal of an application earlier filed by government, seeking revocation of bail granted Dasuki on November 3, 2015.

Consequently, Justice Ademola struck out the application and announced that ruling would be delivered on February 16, 2016, in a pending government application, seeking secret trial of the former NSA Dasuki, who had been arraigned on charges of unlawful possession of fire arms, breach of trust and money laundering.

The trial of Dasuki has been fixed for February 16 and 17, 2016, before Justice Ademola at the Federal High Court, Abuja.
Meanwhile, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has begun moves to file fresh criminal charges against Government Ekpemupolo popularly known as Tompolo and a former Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Patrick Akpobolokemi, for allegedly defrauding the Federal Government in the sale of the N13 billion land for the Maritime University, out of which N11 billion had allegedly been paid to Tompolo through NIMASA.

Spokesman of the commission, Wilson Uwujaren, who informed journalists about the move stated that the said land does not legally belong to Tompolo as the owner community, the Omadino Community of Delta State, has been demanding for the rightful payment for the land.

“The property: Mieka Dive Institute, a sprawling expanse, purportedly acquired by NIMASA for the take-off of the Nigerian Maritime University, was approved for an outright purchase by the past administration in the sum of N13 billion in which a sum of N11.7 billion had been paid through NIMASA”.

Investigations showed that the fund was fraudulently claimed through an alleged false presentation of a Certificate of Customary Right of Occupancy of the property and an alleged inflation of the property sum. This is in addition to the fact that, the same property was allegedly wrongly acquired and wrongly purchased, as the Omadino Community of Delta State, the rightful owners of the property is making a demand for rightful payment of the same land”, Uwujaren said.