....You must face trial, judge tells Dasuki

Former National Security Adviser [NSA],
Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd), yesterday lost his
battle to stop his trial on charges of alleged
diversion of N32 billion arms funds pending
before a High Court of the Federal Capital
Territory (FCT), Abuja. Justice Husseini
Baba Yusuf dismissed his application
because it lacked merit.
In his motion which was argued by his
senior counsel, Joseph Daudu [SAN], Dasuki
had urged the court to stop the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
from prosecuting him on the said charges
because the agency was in contempt of a
court which granted him bail on December
18, 2015.
He was re-arrested by the agents of the
Department of State Services (DSS) on
December 29, shortly after perfecting his
bail conditions.
In his ruling, Justice Yusuf held there are
facts that Dasuki was being held by the DSS
and not the EFCC, therefore, the EFCC
cannot be said to be in contempt of the
court order as alleged by the applicant.
“The law is clear that a contemnor is the
one who the order of court is directed at, but
refuses to comply with the said order. From
the above, it is clear that if an order of court
is not directed to a party, such a party or
person cannot be liable for contempt.
“Disobedience of court order is a serious
offence and any party who disobeys court
order should be punished, if not, it would
bring the court into ridicule and obstruct the
administration of justice and the nation.
“It is clear that after the applicant fulfilled
his bail conditions, he was released from
prison and if the DSS re-arrested him
thereafter, it cannot be said to be
disobedience of the order of this court
because this court did not make any order
stopping the security agencies from re-
arresting him.
“The first defendant is in the custody of the
DSS which is a different organization from
the EFCC. Although they are all federal
agencies, the act of one cannot be attributed
to another. So, the argument of counsel to
the first defendant does not impress me.
They have separate functions and
leadership and did not operate in a
relationship that is ascribed to them by
counsel to the first defendant,” he said.
The judge ruled that the only option open to
the former NSA was to file necessary suit
against the DSS which he described as a
“stranger’ in line with section 46 of the 1999
Constitution for the enforcement of his right
to liberty.
Dasuki filed the motion with respect to the
19 counts of diversion of the arms funds for
which he is being prosecuted along with a
former Director of Finance and
Administration, Office of the National
Security Adviser, Shuaibu Salisu.
The other co-accused are, a former General
Manager, Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC), Aminu Babakusa and
two companies – Acacia Holdings Limited
and Reliance Referral Hospital Limited. The
ex-NSA, through his lawyer, Mr. Joseph
Daudu (SAN), has also filed the same
application dated January 11, 2016, before
Justice Peter Affen of the same Maitama
Division of FCT High Court.