Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji yesterday, lost a bid to stop his trial before a Federal High Court, Lagos as the court dismissed his application for lack of merit.Ikuforiji and his aide, Oyebode Atoyebi are standing trial before the Federal High Court, Lagos on a 20-count charge of money laundering brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The EFCC, in the charge alleged that Ikuforiji and Atoyebi, sometime between April 2010 and July 2011, accepted various cash payments amounting to N503m from the House without going through a financial institution in contravention of the Money Laundering Act.
Justice Okechukwu Okeke in a ruling held that the speaker's contention that his trial amounted to subjecting the state government to trial was wrong.
The judge held that, in couching the charge, the prosecuting agency (EFCC) successfully distinguished between the Speaker, his aide and the National Assembly.
He held that by the tenor of the charge, it was the Speaker and his aide that were being tried in respect of official conducts and not the House of Assembly that was on trial.
Justice Okeke held that although the accused were right in challenging the court's jurisdiction even having pleaded to the charge, there were right to have queried the court's powers to try them.
The judge however held that it was immature at the current stage in the case to decide other issues raised in the two motions on notice raised by the accused and fixed trial for October 24. The judge also dismissed the prosecution's objection to the motions on the ground that it was misconceived.
Ikuforiji had argued that his office as the Speaker of the House of Assembly is part of the state government, and that he only exercised governmental power by transacting business on behalf of government.
He further argued that the alleged offence for which they were being tried arose from the transactions executed on behalf of the House of Assembly in their official capacities.
Ikuforiji contended that as the Speaker, he was part of the government because the action which informed the charge was carried out on behalf of the Lagos State House of Assembly, a tier of Lagos State Government.
He argued that an attempt to prosecute part of a government amounts to constitutional impossibility of prosecuting the government itself. He contended that Section 251(1) and Section 252 of the Constitution, which described the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, do not empower the court to prosecute a qua-government.
EFCC's lawyer, Godwin Obla had while arguing the commission's objection faulted the timing of the objection raised by the accused persons against the charge, noting that they ought to have done that at the point of plea in accordance with the provision of Section 167 of the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA).
He argued that their failure to do so was fatal to their case. On claim by Ikuforiji that his trial will amount to trying the state government, Obla said: "I cannot see any government being prosecuted here. I can only see two accused persons here. Lagos State Government is not on trial.
"People should not cry more that bereaved. It is the government that is being prosecuted, why are the counsel from the state Ministry of Justice not represented here? We must not allow the name of our courts to be brought to disrepute.
"The same thing happened in the case of a person freed by our court on technical ground, who is now languishing in jail in England. I urge your lordship to discountenance their arguments and dismiss the application for quashing of the charge."
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Its high tym ppl stop trying to run away 4rm crimes they willingly commit in dis country.even if they try d court shuld b there to help they country.lets stop eating corruption as our daily bread!
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