CurrentReport Blog The Court of Appeal in Abuja was unable to proceed with the hearing of an ex-parte motion for a stay of proceedings filed by the EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ola Olukayode, due to a scheduled workshop. This motion was filed in response to a contempt charge initiated by former Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello.
The two-day workshop, organized by the Court of Appeal to review the 2023 Election Petition Tribunals and Appeals, commenced on Monday, leading to the postponement of the hearing.
On May 3, the appellate court had granted the EFCC’s ex-parte motion for a stay of contempt proceedings, originally issued by a Kogi State High Court against Mr. Olukayode. The EFCC Chairman was summoned to appear before the state court on May 13 to explain why he should not be imprisoned for allegedly disobeying court orders. In response, he appealed the ruling and sought to halt the proceedings.
The contempt charge stemmed from the EFCC’s actions, which the lower court had restrained on February 9, pending the hearing and determination of the originating motion. Justice I. A. Jamil ruled that the EFCC’s actions violated a valid and subsisting court order when they laid siege to the former governor’s residence at 8 am on April 17, with the intent to arrest him despite the court’s restraining order.
Justice Jamil’s ruling on Suit No: HCL/68M/2024 and Motion No: HCL/190M/2024 emphasized that the EFCC’s conduct amounted to contempt. The former governor’s lawyer, M.S. Yusuf, filed a motion ex-parte requesting the court to serve the EFCC chairman with a Form 49 Notice, compelling him to explain why a committal order should not be issued against him.
On May 3, Justice Joseph Oyewole of the Court of Appeal granted the EFCC’s application to serve the appeal processes on Yahaya Bello by substituted means and adjourned the hearing of the motion on notice to May 20.
However, on Monday morning, the court registrar informed attending lawyers and litigants that there would be no sitting due to the ongoing workshop. The registrar assured that new dates would be communicated to the counsel for all cases scheduled for that day.
“We are holding a workshop, where our judges are in attendance. Therefore, there’s no sitting today. The next adjourned date will be communicated to counsel to the parties for all cases scheduled for today. We are sorry for the inconveniences this might have caused,” the registrar announced.
