No Court Has The Power To Try Me – Dimeji Bankole

ABUJA—EMBATTLED former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, yesterday, challenged the power of an Abuja High Court sitting at Apo, to try him for alleged fraud.

Bankole who went before the high court with an application seeking to quash the entire criminal charge against him, maintained that no court has the power to try him over any action he performed while exercising his powers as Speaker of the House of Representatives.

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In an application he filed through his lead counsel, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, the former Speaker relied on provisions of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act and the National Assembly Service Commission Act, to insist that he was immuned from prosecution, even as he contended that there was no evidence to sustain any of the 17-count charge against him.

 

He averred that in the exercise of his duties in matters relatingto his office as Speaker of the House of Representatives, he cannot be prosecuted for the acts, decisions and resolutions of the House of Representatives, taken at its Executive or Committee sessions because the principle of vicarious liability was unknown to criminal law in Nigeria.

Constitutional power

He equally applied for “an order quashing the charge against the accused/applicant in that the EFCC has neither statutory nor constitutional power to issue authority to a private prosecutor, to prosecute offences created by or under the Penal Code Act in any court of law, without the fiat of the Attorney-General of the Federation first being sought and obtained and usage of the powers as a vindictive weapon against the applicant.

“An order condemning EFCC for abuse of court process, malicious and reckless use of prosecutorial power of the Attorney-General of the Federation when it had no power or authority to appropriate the constitutional powers of attorney general. The Commission knew the position of the law but used it as a vindictive weapon to destroy the applicants’ political career.”

He also sought “an order directing the Chairman of EFCC to publicly apologize to the accused/applicant for public humiliation, denial of personal liberty, unlawful detention and discomfort to his person and family since Sunday,  June 5, 2011.”

Adducing reasons why the EFCC boss should publicly apologize to him, Bankole maintained that he has been, “condemned, vilified, demoralized and branded a villain in the public domain as the charges against him were leaked by the prosecution to the public, before arraignment and after arraignment,” adding: “the prosecuting counsel, Mr. Festus Keyamo, granted television interviews where he publicly condemned the accused/applicant.”

Deliberate harassment

He insisted that “the accused/applicant suffered deliberate harassment, intimidation, indignity, humiliation and persecution instead of prosecution when the bail granted him by the Federal High Court on June 13, 2011, was rendered ineffective by the adoption of serial prosecution,” adding: “The EFCC acted maliciously, recklessly and with impunity in the manner it treated the accused/applicant before and during the arraignments.”

Meanwhile, canvassing grounds that the court should consider in granting his application, Bankole, through his lawyer, said there was no scintilla of evidence contained or shown in the Proof of Evidence placed before the trial Court, capable of warranting the inference or conclusion that he was at any time, entrusted with the House of Representatives Account No. 0039007000018 with the United Bank for Africa Plc as alleged in Counts 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the charge against him.

He stated: “The offences of criminal breach of trust and theft as alleged in Counts 2-17 if the Charge (as contemplated or defined in the Penal Code) cannot be committed by the applicant by ‘obtaining a loan to augment allowances and running costs of members of the House of Representatives in violation of the extant Revised Financial Regulations of the Federal Government of Nigeria, 2009′ or at all.

SOURCE: VANGUARD

1 COMMENT

  1. Nigeria is definitly in trouble. Imagine Dimeji Bankole demanding apology in a glearing case of financial improprieties against him as speaker. Instead of burrying his face in shame, nd returned the stolen money, he is busy granting interview. Well, it dawn on me that the problem of this country is youths nd the PDP. Mr President, save this Country from total collapse nd duldrum.