A suit filed by businessman and gubernatorial candidate of the Labour Party in the Anambra governorship elections, Ifeanyi Ubah, seeking to restrain the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from arresting him over an allegation of fraud, has been dismissed by a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos.
Ubah had filed the suit challenging his impending arrest for alleged fraud, forgery, altering of forged documents, conspiracy to obtain money by false pretence and tax evasion.
The allegation was as a result of a lease agreement between Ubah and a firm, DTV Limited.
The businessman turned politician, who is also the managing director of Capital Oil and Gas Limited, had prayed the court to stop his planned arrest by the EFCC in connection with the alleged offence.
He argued that the plans by the anti-graft agency to arrest him were as a result of desperate moves to put spanner in the works of his then gubernatorial ambition, which he eventually lost out.
Joined in the suit as respondents are the Inspector-General of Police and the Attorney-General of the Federation.
But Justice Saliu Saidu, after reviewing the facts of the case yesterday, ruled that there was reasonable grounds for suspicion that an offence had been committed by Ubah to which the EFCC had the power to investigate.
Justice Saidu said, “I cannot stop the respondents from performing their constitutional duty and I hereby refuse all the reliefs sought by the applicants (Ubah and Capital Oil) in this case”.
