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Dariye�s Immunity Inviolable, Says Court
�Charges against Plateau gov struck out From Agaju Madugba in Kaduna, 12.17.2004
A Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna yesterday ruled that by virtue of Section 308 of the constitution, Chief Joshua Dariye being an incumbent governor (of Plateau State) cannot be prosecuted for criminal offence. Section 308 sub-section 1 states that "Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this constitution, but subject to sub-section 2 of this section - (a) no civil or criminal proceedings shall be instituted or continued against a person to whom this section applies during his period of office." Also section 308 subsection 1(b) states: "a person to whom this section applies shall not be arrested or imprisoned during that period either in pursuance of the process of any court or otherwise." The Federal High Court gave the ruling in respect of charges of money laundering and conspiracy preferred against Dariye by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The EFCC had charged Dariye along with five others including the All States Trust Bank Plc of contravening section 16 of the Money Laundering Decree 3 of 1995. Ruling on the issue of the governor�s immunity, trial judge, Hon. Justice Abdullahi Liman, averred that the charges cannot stand against the backdrop of section 308 (1) (b) and (c) of the Constitution. �Accordingly, I order that the name of the first accused and all allegations against him be struck out.� Liman said. He also set aside an earlier criminal summons order served on Dariye to appear before the court. But, according to the judge, �I must however observe that this victory (for Dariye) may turn out to be a restless victory, for, in the trial of the other accused persons of the charges levelled against them, it may turn out that he is still undergoing symbolic trial, for it is his alleged action that constitutes the charges preferred against the other accused persons�. Bank officials charged with Dariye were released on bail. Among those granted bail are, Awe Odessa, a former deputy-general manager/regional manager (North) of All States Trust Bank Plc, currently a deputy general manager, Liberty Bank Plc, and Dorothy Uko, a former area manager of All States Trust Bank Plc, Abuja and currently the bank�s deputy general manager. The others are, Duate P. Iyabi, a former managing director of All States Trust Bank, now managing director, International Trust Bank Plc, Lawson A. Omokhodion, a former executive director, All states Trust Bank Plc and currently the managing director, Liberty Bank Plc, and Adonye Roberts, an officer at the All States Trust Bank Plc, Abuja. The trial of the accused persons continued after the ruling and the prosecution called three additional witnesses, Bamanga Bello, an investigator at the EFCC, Musa Sunday, a police Inspector, and John Eji, a police sergeant, both of who are attached to the EFCC. The EFCC had accused Dariye of conniving with the bank officials to divert over N1.1 billion belonging to the Plateau State Government. However, Dariye had vowed never to answer the summons of the Kaduna High Court on grounds that he is covered by the immunity clause in Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution. While Dariye refused to honour the summons, his counsel, Prof. Ben Nwabueze (SAN) filed a notice of preliminary objection, arguing that by virtue of the provisions of Section 308 (1)(b)(c) of the 1999 Constitution, no process of either a court or tribunal can order the arrest or imprisonment of a governor or compel his appearance. Nwabueze again applied for leave of the court to have the case transferred to the Abuja High Court on grounds of "forum inconvenience". Earlier, an Abuja High Court had stopped the Code of Conduct Tribunal from bringing Dariye to trial for false declaration of assets and sundry offences, after his counsel, Chief Bayo Ojo (SAN) who is also the President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) again cited immunity provisions in the 1999 Constitution. Before the Dariye case, the immunity clause has been subject of national attention in two earlier cases, one ending in the Supreme Court while the other was resolved at the police investigation level. In the first case, Chief Gani Fawehinmi had filed a suit seeking an order of mandamus to compel the Inspector General of Police to investigate and prosecute Lagos State governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on account of his educational certificate claims in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) forms. The court, however, ruled that though the police could investigate a governor but it cannot prosecute the occupant of the office. Also, when the police said its men found some arms and ammunitions in an official vehicle belonging to the deputy governor of Delta State, Mr. Benjamin Elue, and he was whisked to Abuja for interrogation, the Delta State government immediately raised the issue of immunity and warned the police against violating the spirit of the constitution. The police later claimed it only invited Elue for a chat and that he was not arrested though he spent a night with the police. However, President Olusegun Obasanjo and some parliamentarians have been canvassing for the immunity clause to be expunged from the constitution because it shields the beneficiaries even when they are apparently committing crime.
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