in a very bad place.The Supreme Court has quashed Bode George's sentence saying the charge he was jailed for "Contract Splitting" was unknown to the law at the time he was convicted of the
crime.A Lagos high court judge, Justice Joseph Olubunmi Oyewole on Oct 2009 convicted Chief Bode George and 5 others for corruption and diversion of funds totalling N84billion when they served on the board of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA. He was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment and was released Feb 26 2011.
So if the crime or charge was unknown to the law ,how could they have found a constitution in the court to support the charges,find him guilty and jail him?
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REACTIONS
Reacting to the judgment, a human rights activist and lawyer, Mr Bamidele Aturu, said that it was a setback in Nigeria’s fight against corruption.
Aturu said: “I think it is unfortunate and that decision is going to encourage corruption.
“What the trial judge (Oyewole) said is that if you went beyond the approved contract limit, you have committed what the law cannot close its eyes to.
“For the Supreme Court to say that there is no such concept in our law, may encourage public officers to circumvent the restrictions placed on their spending. “
Mr Onyekachi Ubani, Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ikeja branch, described the decision of the apex court as “shocking”.
Ubani said: “I won’t want to say much until I see the detail of the judgment and the reasons the judges adduced for upturning the conviction.’’
However, Mr Adetokunbo Mumuni, Executive Director, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, a human rights group, blamed the EFCC for alleged shoddy investigation and prosecution of the case.
“It is the duty of the prosecution to gather the necessary facts and build a good case against an accused before charging him to court.
“If they fail to file a competent charge against the person, it is the duty of the court to apply the law and acquit him, “ Mumuni said.
He said that the judiciary would not sacrifice the law and the Constitution for fighting corruption.
Another lawyer and former lawmaker, Mr Ehiogie West-Idahosa, noted that any judgment of the Supreme Court was final and should be accepted in good faith.
West-Idahosa, a former member of the Federal House of Representatives (Ovia North-East and Ovia South-West Constituency), urged the EFCC to intensify its anti-corruption campaign.
“The lesson to be learnt from this case is that nobody is above the law.
“The reason corruption is ravaging this country is that some people believe that they can get away with anything.
“The EFCC should continue the fight against corruption by charging those high profile suspects, who are still walking free, to court, “ he said.
The Supreme Court Judges headed by Justice Afolabi Fabiyi has thereby cleared Bode George's name and the conviction as well as criminal record will now be wiped off his record.Once again it is one rule for them and another for us...a sad state of affiars.