Court dismisses a criminal suit filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against Rochas Okorocha, former Governor of Imo State, as an abuse of judicial process.
The sitting judge, Yusuf Halilu, stated in his decision that the EFCC’s charges of fraud and abuse of authority against Okorocha are an abuse of judicial process because the anti-graft agency brought a similar case against the defendant before the Federal High Court.
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The judge stated that the Port Harcourt court’s decision is still legitimate because it has not been overturned by an appeals court.
“A court order is still valid until it is vacated by a competent court,” he stated. Observing that the anti-graft agency should have “challenged the pronouncement of the federal high court, Port Harcourt” before the court of appeal and followed through till the case was resolved.
“Any action taken in filing any charge against the defendant stemming from the same investigation cannot stand.”
“The decision of the federal high court has bound this court’s hands and legs.”
Okorocha, who also served as a senator in the 9th National Assembly, has been engaged in a long-running struggle with the EFCC, which culminated in the commission’s raid on his Abuja apartment in May 2022.
Remember that the EFCC first filed 17-count criminal charges against Rochas Okorocha and others in a federal high court in Abuja on January 31, 2022, for an alleged conspiracy to steal N2.9 billion in public monies.
He was accused of plotting to steal from public coffers with others, including an APC member and five corporations, an allegation the former governor disputed.
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Mr. Okorocha was later charged along with six others, including an APC chieftain, Anyim Chinenye, and five companies: Naphtali International Limited, Perfect Finish Multi Projects Limited, Consolid Projects Consulting Limited, Pramif International Limited, and Legend World Concepts Limited.
Okorocha called the suit “unlawful, baseless, oppressive, and a gross abuse of the court’s process.”
