Justice E. S Chukwu of the
Federal High Court, Abuja today April 14, 2015 deferred ruling in the
extradition proceedings brought against Ehidiamhem Okoyomon, former managing director and chief executive of
Nigeria Security, Printing and Minting Company,
NSPMC, by the office of Attorney General of the Federation, to May 4, 2015.
Instead of the ruling, prosecuting
counsel, M. S Hassan and defence counsel, Chukwuemeka J. Dumaka, who stood in
for Alex Iziyon, SAN, re-adopted their written addresses and oral submissions
in line with the constitutional provision that parties to any trial must re-adopt
their addresses if judgment was not delivered within three months of the
adoption of final addresses. It is over three months since the parties first
adopted their written addresses.
The court had originally reserved
ruling for December 1, 2014 but adjourned on the grounds that the judgment was
not ready. Today’s adjournment is the fourth time ruling would be deferred in
the extradition case.
Okoyomon is wanted in the UK
over his alleged role in the bribery scandal involving officials of Central
Bank of Nigeria, CBN, the Nigeria Security Printing and Minting Company, NSPMC,
and Securency International Pty of Australia, between 2006 and
2008.
His counsel Iziyon, SAN, had argued that
the court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the application to extradite the
respondent, that the 1931 treaty which the prosecution counsel is relying upon
has been repealed by Decree No 87 of 1966. He argued that the 1931 treaty
between UK and Nigeria was
just an agreement, not a law. “I submit that, even if you want to consider
that, it was between UK and United States and it governs the protectorate
that was under UK
then. We have since left in 1960”.
Hassan,
in response, argued that the 1931 treaty became applicable to Nigeria in 1935
and that it was never repealed by any enactment. He further told the court
that “schedule 2 under extradition law provides that the law shall apply
to all Commonwealth nations”.
He urged the court to grant his
plea based on the extradition treaty of 1931 between Nigeria
and the UK which is
applicable in Nigeria.
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