Appeal Court holds judgments in Metuh, Kanu's cases

The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Thursday reserved judgments in two separate appeals by the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Olisa Metuh and bellwether of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.
A three-man panel of the appeal court led by Equity Abdul Aboki verbally expressed dates of judgments would be communicated to parties through their lawyers after it auricularly discerned the appeals on Thursday. Metuh and his company, Destra Investment Constrained had appealed the ruling by Equity Okon Abang of a Federal High Court in Abuja dismissing their no-case submission. Equity Abang had dismissed the no-case submission and injuctively authorized them to enter defence. The EFCC is prosecuting Metuh and his company afore Equity Abang on charges of mazuma laundering and alleged fraudulent receipt of funds from the Office of the National Security Adviser. At the Court of Appeal on Thursday, Metuh’s lawyer, Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), and lawyer to his company, Tochukwu Onwugbufor (SAN), faulted Equity Abang’s reasoning in repudiating their clients’ no-case submission.

They urged the court to set aside court’s ruling, uphold their clients’ no-case submission and quash the charges against them. Responding, EFCC’s lawyer, Sylvanus Tahir, urged the court to dismiss the appeal for destitute of in merit and for being defective. Tahir noted that the appeal being an interlocutory one, the appellants were required under the law, to first obtain the leave of the tribulation court. He argued that having not consummated the condition precedent, the appellants cannot claim to have a valid appeal afore the court.