From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
An Abuja Chief Magistrate Court has remanded the Head of the Legal Department of ECO Bank in the Northern Region, Ridwan Abdulwahab, at the Kuje Correctional Centre facility following his arraignment on perjury and defamation of character.
He was remanded on Thursday by Chief Magistrate Musa Sadiq in a First Information Report (FIR) filed against him by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) for giving false information on oath and defaming the character of Justice Charles Agbaza of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory.
The banker was accused by the IGP of deposing to an affidavit where he gave false information in a bid to block his bank from releasing a N228.4 million judgment debt awarded against the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to the judgment creditor.
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In his deposition, the accused person alleged that the writ of execution used to effect implementation of Garnishee Absolute against ECO Bank, ordering the release of the money to the owner, was an unsigned document by Justice Charles Agbaza.
ECOWAS was ordered by the High Court, Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court in Abuja to pay N228 million to a judgment creditor, Vision Kam Jay, an indigenous company, for a job executed for the regional body.
In the First Information Report (FIR), ECO Bank, in compliance with the court orders, effected the payment into the account of the judgment creditor in 2020 but immediately placed a “Post No Debit” (PND) on the same account, making it impossible for the owner of the fund to access it.
Following a direct complaint lodged against the banker by the judgment creditor for giving false evidence, Chief Magistrate Farida Ibrahim referred the matter to the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG), Zone 7, for investigation and report.
In its report, AIG Zone 7 found that, contrary to the claim of the accused person, the writ of execution for Garnishee Absolute was duly signed by Justice Charles Agbaza before the court order was enforced.
The writ used for the payment of the judgment debt against ECOWAS was found to have been signed by Justice Charles Agbaza of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in compliance with orders of the courts.
The accused person was said to have made the false deposition in sympathy with ECOWAS and as a ploy to block the judgment creditor from accessing the fund.
He was subsequently charged with perjury contrary to sections 158 and 392 of the Penal Code, Laws of Northern Nigeria.
However, when the charge was read, the accused person pleaded not guilty.
Concerted efforts by his lawyer, Mr Kalat Jatu, to abort the arraignment on the ground that the FIR was defective were turned down by Magistrate Musa Sadiq, who ruled that section 396 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) did not permit granting such a request.
Although the defence lawyer requested bail for the accused person, it was vehemently opposed by the Prosecutor, Bale Nimnan, who alleged that it took considerable effort before the accused person honoured the police invitation.
In his brief ruling, Magistrate Musa Sadiq rejected the oral bail application and ordered the accused person to put the bail application in writing and serve the prosecution as required by law.
The judge subsequently ordered that the accused person be remanded at Kuje prison pending the court’s decision on the bail application.
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