A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Wednesday ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) lawyer, Abbas Mohammed, to confirm and report back to the court whether an alleged misleading report on the court’s proceedings originated from the commission’s website.
Justice Obiora Egwuatu gave the order after the defense lawyers in the money laundering trial of Ali Bello and his co-defendants accused the EFCC of publishing allegedly false accounts of court proceedings on Tuesday on its website, which they claimed were detrimental to their clients.
Abubakar Aliyu (SAN) and Nureini Jimoh (SAN), who represented the defendants in the alleged N3 billion fraud case, informed Justice Egwuatu about the development after the matter was called. They complained that a report on Tuesday’s proceedings posted on the EFCC’s website and social media contradicted what had transpired in court. They also claimed this was not the first time such a situation had occurred.
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According to the lawyers, the third prosecution witness (PW-3), who was cross-examined, stated that he never said the money used for paying the school fees of the children of former Governor Yahaya Bello came from the Kogi State government. However, the EFCC’s media report contradicted this statement.
When the hearing resumed on Wednesday, Jimoh, who appeared for the second, third, and fourth defendants, informed the court that although the matter was slated for continuation of hearing, he had a preliminary application to make. He said his application was based on the publication by the prosecution.
Jimoh (SAN) alleged that there were incessant and unfair publications by the EFCC against the defendants, which, he argued, could negatively affect public confidence in the administration of justice.
“We have remained silent when these publications came from the EFCC to allow the trial to proceed,” Jimoh said. “However, we are concerned that these inaccurate publications are meant to incite the public against the court’s decisions in the trial.”
Jimoh further stated: “After Tuesday’s proceedings, we saw a disturbing publication on the EFCC website, claiming that the third prosecution witness affirmed before Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, that funds were brought to him by agents of the state government to pay the school fees of Alhaji Yahaya Bello’s children.”
According to Jimoh, such publications, which he said were contrary to what transpired in court, could significantly affect the court’s proceedings and public confidence in the justice system. He reiterated, “We remained silent when these publications came from the EFCC to allow the trial to proceed.”
He prayed, “My application is that if this honorable court finds that the publication is contrary to the proceedings in court, the court should direct that the publication be removed from the website immediately and that the EFCC should publish a rejoinder without delay.”
He added, “My third application is that the EFCC should cease from making such publications forthwith.”
Jimoh also urged the court to suspend proceedings until the EFCC complied with the directives.
Corroborating Jimoh’s submission, Aliyu (SAN), who represented Bello (the first defendant), drew the court’s attention to a ruling by the Supreme Court in the case of Atiku Abubakar Vs. INEC and others. Aliyu pointed out that the apex court had cautioned lawyers against using social media to divert public attention from what actually transpired in court.
According to him, the court had emphasized that lawyers must review their conduct and refrain from engaging in social media reports.
“We are dealing with a situation where the witness’s statement is misrepresented on social media. This is not the first time this has happened. We previously raised this complaint before Honorable Justice Omotosho.”
“The witness (PW-3) said he never stated that the money came from the Kogi State Government, but the media is saying otherwise,” Aliyu added.
In response, the EFCC’s lawyer acknowledged seeing the printed publication but stated that he could not verify its source at that moment.
“I will need to confirm with the media team, my lord. We are ministers in the temple of justice, and that’s why I need to confirm with the media team,” he said.
Justice Egwuatu replied, “Confirm for clarity whether it is from your website.”
In a brief ruling, Justice Egwuatu ordered the prosecution lawyer to confirm the publication in his office and report back on the next adjourned date.
The judge then adjourned the matter to November 28 for the continuation of the hearing.
