ABUJA—There’s a bit of a pause in the legal drama surrounding the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ola Olukoyede. The Court of Appeal in Abuja has decided to drop the contempt charge against him. This whole mess started because of the planned trial of former Kogi State Governor Alhaji Yahaya Bello.
Here’s the scoop: Justice Jamil Abdullahi of the Kogi State High Court had summoned Olukoyede to show up on May 13. The reason? Allegedly disobeying court orders related to the case against Bello. Bello’s lawyers are now waving around documents marked HCL/68M/2024 and motion No: HCL/190M/2024, claiming that Olukoyede didn’t play by the rules. They say he ignored a court order from back in February and instead tried to arrest Bello at his place in Abuja. Bello’s not happy about it, especially since the EFCC got a different court to give them the green light to go after him for a laundry list of financial crimes.
Bello’s legal eagles aren’t pulling any punches either. They’re gunning for Olukoyede, hoping to throw him behind bars for not following the court’s orders.
Now, Justice Abdullahi listened to all of this and called Olukoyede to explain himself on May 13. But Olukoyede wasn’t having any of it. He took his case to the Court of Appeal. Olukoyede’s lawyers filed two motions: one to put the brakes on the summons and another to serve Bello legal papers through other means.
A three-judge panel at the Court of Appeal, led by Justice Joseph Oyewole, thought Olukoyede might have a point. So, they granted both of his requests and set May 20 as the date to really investigate this mess.
So, the legal back-and-forth continues. Just another day in the wild world of Nigerian politics and law.
