EFCC: Court refuses Capital Oil boss, Uba, bail

Managing Director, Capital Oil and Gas Limited, Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah
| credits: sweetcrudereports.com

A Federal High Court in Lagos on Monday refused hearing an ex parte motion filed by the remanded Managing Director, Capital Oil and Gas Limited, Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah, and four principal officers of his company.

Justice Okon Abang asked the applicants, who had filed the application to seek their release from the custody of the Special Fraud Unit of the police in Lagos, to convert the ex parte motion to a motion on notice.

The applicants, will by the motion on notice put the respondents – the police – on notice and will enable the respondents to oppose the application, if they so wish.

A Tinubu Magistrates’ Court in Lagos had on October 11 granted permission to the SFU to remand Uba and four of his employees for 15 days to complete the investigation of an alleged N43bn fuel subsidy fraud levelled against the suspects.

The employees of Capitol Oil remanded along with Ubah are the Head of Trading, Nsikan Usoro; the Depot Manager, Godfrey Okorie; General Manager, Operations, Chibuzor Ogbuokiri; and the Executive Director, Operations, Orji Anayo.

The presiding magistrate, Mr. Martins Owumi, before giving the remand order on October 11, told the counsel for the suspects, Dr. Joseph Nwobike, SAN, that he could file a bail application before the expiration of the order.

The SFU said the eight suspects were being investigated for “economic sabotage”, obtaining money by false pretences, stealing the property of Nigeria, money laundering and forgery.

However, instead of filing their bail application before the magistrate, the suspects chose to approach the Federal High Court for their release.

Named as respondents were the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Commissioner of Police, SFU and Francis Idu Alonyenu (a Chief Superintendent of Police).

The application marked: FHC/C/CS/1203/2012 sought, among others, an order directing the respondents to admit the applicants to bail or release them from detention, pending the determination of the substantive suit.

In his ruling on Monday, Justice Abang held that the orders sought were impossible in nature.

He said he would prefer to hear the respondents before making any pronouncement on the application.

He held that there was an “urgent, compelling and deserving need to put the respondents on notice before a decision is taken.”

The judge, relying on the provision of Order 26 Rule 10 of the court’s Civil Procedure Rules, converted the ex-parte application to motion on notice.

He ordered that the motion and a copy of his order be served on the respondents.

Abang gave the respondents up till 12 noon on Tuesday (today) to file their response and fixed hearing for 1 pm today.

Meanwhile three senior officials of an oil marketing firm, Matrix Energy Ltd, who are also being detained on the order of Magistrate Owunmi, filed similar application yesterday before the Federal High Court.