Again, the chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, has been committed to prison for allegedly disobeying court order.
The court also directed the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, to effect Bawa’s arrest and remand him in Kuje Prison for the next 14 days until he purges himself of the contempt.
Justice R.O. Ayoola of the Kogi State High Court, in his judgment, yesterday, granted the application for committal to prison of the EFCC chairman for disobeying a court ruling delivered on November 30, 2022, wherein the EFCC chairman was directed to produce the applicant in the case, Ali Bello.
Bello had dragged Bawa to court for arresting and detaining him illegally, with the court ruling in his favour, only for the EFCC to arraign him for alleged money laundering three days after the ruling.
The EFCC’s applications for setting aside and stay of execution of the ruling were refused for want of merit.
The court had, in Form 49, Order IX, Rule 13, marked, ‘HCL/697M/2022’ and titled, ‘Notice to Show Cause Why Order of Committal Should not be Made,’ asked the EFCC chairman to appear before it on January 18, 2022 to explain why he should not be jailed for flouting the order given on December 12, 2022 in a case filed by Ali Bello against the EFCC and Bawa, as the 1st and 2nd respondents, respectively.
The court ordered that the EFCC and Bawa be served the motion of notice together with Form 49 by substituted means.
Recall that the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Abuja sentenced the chairperson of the EFCC to jail for contempt, November 2022. The judge, Chizoba Oji, convicted Bawa and ordered the Inspector of General of Police to put him in Kuje Prison in Abuja for disobeying an earlier order of the court.
Justice Oji, according to the report, convicted and jailed Mr Bawa on 28 October in a ruling on an application by a former Director of Operations at the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), Rufus Ojuawo.
Although the EFCC vowed to appeal the ruling in an interview.
