Court discharges Leadership journalists as FG withdraws charges

Lagos lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana,

An Abuja Federal High Court on Thursday discharged two journalists with the Leadership Group Limited, publishers of Leadership Newspapers.

The journalists were arraigned by the Federal Government on six counts of conspiracy and forgery of the bromide of a presidential directive.

The court, presided by Justice Adeniyi Ademola, also struck out the six counts charge following the Federal Government’s notice of withdrawal/discontinuance of the criminal charges against the newspaper, its Group News Editor, Mr. Tony Amokeodo, and Political reporter, Mr. Chibuzor Ukaibe.

At the resumption of hearing on the matter on Thursday, prosecution counsel, DSP Joe Nwadike, told the court that the Federal Government had filed a notice of withdrawal/discontinuance of the charge against the journalists and their employer.

Defence counsel, Chief Femi Falana, SAN, did not oppose the withdrawal of the charge, and Justice Ademola immediately struck it out.

“The six-count criminal charge dated April 22, 2013, is hereby struck out against all the accused persons,” the judge ruled.

Prosecution counsel, Nwadike, afterwards said the Federal Government had no intention to go ahead with the charge against the newspaper and its journalists.

He said, “This is the issue of law, the law is a wilderness of intellectualism.

“The prosecution is like a father of the house; he has a right to punish a child, he has the right not to punish the child. So we have discontinued, we have withdrawn.”

Falana,on his part, noted that the withdrawal of the case was a welcome development.

He said, “What the court has done is proper. You know we filed an objection that the court has no jurisdiction and the state decided to discontinue the case.

“Having applied to discontinue the case, what the court can do is to strike out the case and discharge the accused persons. The court cannot acquit them because there is no trial.”

A copy of the notice of withdrawal/discontinuance of the charge, which was dated April 30, 2013 and filed on May 2, 2013, read, “Take notice that the complainant, the Hon. Attorney General of the Federation intends that the criminal proceedings consisting six-counts charge against the accused persons, Tony Amokeodo, Chibuzor Ukaibe, Leadership Group Ltd., be discontinued and thesix-counts against them are hereby withdrawn.”

The notice was signed by the prosecutor, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, for the AGF and Minister of justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN.

In the notice of preliminary objection to the charge filed against Leadership and the journalists, Falana said the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the suit.

Falana maintained that the charge brought against the accused persons related only to forgery and not to any loss of revenue by the Federal Government.

Arguing that the court lacked the jurisdiction to try the accused persons, Falana said, “In the instant case, the charge brought against the accused persons discloses no loss of revenue by the Federal Government to cloth the Federal High Court with the jurisdiction to entertain same.”
PUNCH