A Federal High Court in Abuja threatened to dismiss a lawsuit against former vice president Atiku Abubakar on Tuesday. The lawsuit was brought by Festus Keyamo, a spokesperson for the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC).
The lawsuit will be dismissed on the following postponed date if Keyamo was not prepared to vigorously pursue the matter, according to Justice James Omotosho, who issued the warning.
Abubakar was the target of a lawsuit filed by Keyamo (FHC/ABJ/CS/84/2023) based on suspicions of possible money laundering.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Code of Conduct Bureau, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have also been added as defendants in the lawsuit.
Based on an audio tape made public by Michael Achimugu, a former assistant of Keyamo, Keyamo had earlier requested that law enforcement agencies detain Abubakar.
The former vice president is said to have described in the recording how shell companies were created to steal state monies.
At the restarted hearing, Keyamo’s attorney Okechukwu Uju-Azorji said that the court had previously ordered that Abubakar, the first defendant, be served via alternative methods.
While they were preparing to carry out the service, according to Uju-Azorji, Abubakar served them with his statement of defense.
“Have you served them the originating process?” the judge asked.
The attorney claimed that because Abubakar (the defendant) hadn’t yet received the court papers, he felt the defendant’s statement of defense was incompetent.
Because the defendant had 30 days to respond, Justice Omotosho noted that he adjourned the case. Abubakar’s filing of his application even before receiving service of the plaintiff’s originating process, therefore, demonstrated his diligence.
The senior attorney was reprimanded by Justice Omotosho for blaming Abubakar’s procedure for his inability to serve his application on its inefficiency because social media had reported the story.
In addition, Uju-Azorji informed the court that Keyamo was not there to offer his testimony.
The judge then cautioned the attorney against using the court as a garbage can.
In order to serve Abubakar with the originating process, Uju-Azorji consequently asked the court for an adjournment.
The case was then postponed until March 23 for a hearing or case dismissal by Judge Omotosho.
Keyamo is requesting a court order requiring the anti-graft agencies to invite or arrest Abubakar, conduct an investigation, and, if necessary, bring charges against him.
