S/Court Fixes Feb. 9 To Deliver Judgment On Metuh’s No-case-submission

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the apex court also gave the same date to decide a similar appeal filed by Destra Investment Limited, a company owned by Metuh. Justice Dattijo Mohammed, who led the five-man panel of justices, fixed the date after counsel to parties adopted their addresses. The appellants had approached the apex court to set aside the May 24, 2016 decision of the Court of Appeal, Abuja, which dismissed Metuh and his company’s no-case-submissions. The two appellants had challenged the Abuja Federal High Court’s judgment which first dismissed those applications. Metuh had argued that the two decisions had pre-determined his fate in the trial ahead of its determination. NAN recalls that Metuh is standing trial alongside his company, Destra Investment Limited, on a 7-count charge brought by the EFCC for allegedly receiving N400 million from a former National Security Adviser, retired Col. Sambo Dasuki. Earlier, Dr Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), Counsel to Metuh submitted that it had not been established that the funds received by his client to fund the President Goodluck Jonathan’s 2015 re-election were proceeds of crime. He said the disbursements followed due process as reflected in the bank transactions already before the trial court as evidence. Ikpeazu argued that Metuh had done no wrong, adding that the decisions of the lower court should be set aside. However, Mr Sylvanus Tahir, Counsel to EFCC urged the court to dismiss the two appeals, adding that the appellants had opened their cases at the trial court. He said the first appellant (Metuh) had so far called a number of witnesses to testify in the fraud suit. Tahir, further said that the appellants should be interested in seeing to the conclusion of the case rather than tried to stop it. (NAN)]]>