A Grade 1 court in Abuja has ordered the arrest of a serving Nigerian senator for issuing dud cheques, a criminal offence in Nigeria.
The Grade 1 Area Court, Kubwa, Abuja on Tuesday, issued a bench warrant for the arrest of a serving Senator, Hope Uzodinma representing Orlu Zone, Imo West Senatorial District of Imo State in the Nigerian Senate.
The arrest warrant was issued by the presiding judge, Abdulwahab Mohammed, after a criminal complaint was filed against the senator before the court by a certain Chima Akuzie, and his company, Chitek Ventures Ltd., accusing the senator of issuing N200m dud cheque to them in exchange for their services.
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Senator Uzodinma and his companies – Smiec Engineering and Chemical Construction Company and Niger Global Engineering and Technical Company Limited – are named as the defendants in the direct complaint marked, CR/358/2018.
The judge, acting under Section 478 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, had entered a “not guilty plea” for Uzodinma and his companies.
The judge further explained that he had issued the arrest warrant against the senator because of his consistent absence from court proceedings as well as his failure to answer to the criminal complaint pending against him.
The trial judge also noted that the senator had refused to show up in court despite evidence of having being served with several court summons.
An Oral application had been made by the complainants lawyer for the arrest of the senator due to the fact that he was absent from court despite being duly represented by a lawyer the previous day, signifying that he was fully aware of the criminal proceedings being instituted against him on the 18th of September.
The lawyer who represented the senator the previous day, Eze Oguaju was however absent from Tuesday’s proceedings as well alongside his principal.
The complainants approached the court because Senator Uzodinma had allegedly subcontracted to them a shore-line protection contract in Koko, Delta State, which the senator was said to have got from the Niger Delta Development Commission.
He however did not pay for the services rendered because the company discovered that the cheque issued by the senator as payment for the contract was worthless in the bank.