Olisa Metuh petitions chief judge, alleges foul play

Chief Metuh all smiles during one of his appearances in court

At the sitting, the trial judge in the matter, Justice Abang, asked the prosecuting counsel and defence counsels if they were aware of a petition against the court from Emeka Etiaba, one of the defence counsels. The judge said Etiaba’s petition alleged an unfair ruling on the no case submission made by Metuh. Etiaba in his petition also alleged that the first defendant, Metuh and the judge, Abang were classmates in law school. Answering the judge’s question, counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Sylvanus Tahir said: “My lord, no, I am only hearing of this now.”
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However, the defence counsel, Ifedayo Adedikpe replied: “My lord, any letter written by a defense counsel is a decision by the defence team.”
Metuh had in February applied for a no case submission against the EFCC, but in his ruling, Abang raised questions that must be addressed by the defendant. Abang said the first defendant will have to tell the court whether he was aware that a huge sum of N400 million was paid into his account from the former national security adviser Sambo Dasuki. He also asked that if truly the defendant knew about the payment of the money, why didn’t he report such transaction to the EFCC or the appropriate authority in the first place. Metuh is currently facing criminal charges for illegally receiving N400 million from the former national security adviser Sambo Dasuki. The money, the EFCC alleged, was used by the defendant’s party for the 2015 general elections campaign.