The Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, has been sentenced to Kuje Prison over contempt of court.
In a ruling delivered by Justice Chizoba Oji of the Federal Capital Territory High Court on October 28, convicted Bawa for contempt of court.Noting that the anti-graft agency failed to comply with a November 21, 2018 court order directing it to return a Range Rover and the sum of N40 million to the applicant in a suit notice marked: FCT/HC/M/52/2021 filed by a one-time Director of Operations at the Nigerian Air Force, Air Vice Marshal Rufus Ojuawo.
The EFCC had arraigned Ojuawo on two counts before Justice Muawiyah Idris of the High Court of the FCT in Nyanya in 2016 for corruptly receiving gratification to the tune of N40 million and a Range Rover Sport (Supercharged) from one Hima Aboubakar of Societe D’Equipment Internationaux Nigeria Limited.
Following November 21, 2018 ruling, Justice Idris discharged and acquitted Ojuawo on the grounds that the prosecution failed to prove its case.
The court also held that the anti-graft agency should return Ojuawo’s seized properties to him
Consequently, the complainant (EFCC) ordered to refund the defendant his N40,000,000 wrongly paid into ONSA recovery account and to return to the defendant his Range Rover Sport (Supercharged) forthwith,” Justice Idris had held.
The EFCC failed to comply with the judgement which made Ojuawo to file a motion in the suit marked: FCT/HC/CR/184/2016 that the EFCC had refused to comply with the court order directing it to release his seized property.
In the October 28, 2022 ruling, Justice Chizoba Oji held that, “The Chairman Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is in contempt of the orders of this honourable court made on November 21st 2018 directing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abuja to return to the applicant his Range Rover (Supercharged) and the sum of N40, 000,000.00 (Forty Million Naira).”
Consequently, the Judge ordered that Bawa should be remanded in prison at the Kuje Correctional Centre for his wilful disobedience to the order of the court.
Justice Oji held, “Having continued wilfully in disobedience to the order of this court, he should be committed to prison at Kuje Correctional Centre for his disobedience, and continued disobedience of the said order of court made on November 21st, 2018, until he purges himself of the contempt.
The spokesperson for the EFCC said, The Commission would appeal the ruling.