A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday, February 23, 2022, threatened to strike out a suit filed by a former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah, and two others, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.
In the suit, Minimah and the two others, Major General A. O. Adebayo (ex-Chief of Accounts and Budget, Nigerian Army) and Brigadier General R. I. Odi (ex-Director, Finance and Accounts, Nigerian Army), are challenging the validity of a charge filed against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory.
The three were indicted by the EFCC for allegedly misappropriating N13,798,619,309 from funds provided by the Federal Government for the purchase of military hardware.
The defendants named in the suit are the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, and the EFCC.
At the resumed hearing, the plaintiffs’ counsel, Mr Efut Okoi, told the court that they were in the process of filing their statement of claims.
“We were filing our statement of claims when one of the deponents became indisposed and that caused a delay in the process,” he stated.
He, however, told the court that the defence counsel was abreast of the situation. He assured the court that he would have completed the filing process and served the same on the defendants before the next adjourned date.
Reacting to Okoi’s claim, counsel for the EFCC, Mr Sylvanus Tahir, expressed worries over what he called the lackadaisical manner in which the plaintiffs were approaching the suit.
“They obtained an ex parte order to stop EFCC from prosecuting them before an FCT High Court for a criminal charge after investigations were concluded since 2017,” Tahir lamented.
Not pleased with the explanation of the plaintiffs’ counsel, Justice Inyang Ekwo reminded him that the suit was filed in 2020, expressing disappointment at how the case had been handled so far.
The judge threatened to strike out the suit if the plaintiffs’ lawyer had not filed and served his processes on the defendants by the next adjourned date.
“If on the next adjourned date, you say you have just served them, or that you served them seven days before, therefore you have not given them sufficient time to reply, I will strike out this matter,” Justice Ekwo said.
The case was later adjourned until March 23 for a hearing.