Former National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olisa Metuh, has accused the Federal Government of violating the 1999 Constitution by subjecting him to two different trials with the purported list of looters released by Information Minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
Recall that the minister on Friday released a list of supposed looters of the treasury which included Metuh and current Chairman of the party, Chief Uche Secondus.
Metuh is currently being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly obtaining N400 million from the Office of the National Security Adviser under Col Sambo Dasuki (rtd) without any justifiable reason.
But in a Saturday statement, Metuh said the Federal Government was subjecting him to a trial before a court of law and another before the media.
He said, “By this publication, the Federal Government has breached our constitution by seeking to burden me with two criminal trials on the same charge, one before Justice Okon Abang and the other before the media.
“The charge against me is that I received the sum of N400 million from the Office of the National Security Adviser to carry out duties assigned to me as the then National Publicity Secretary of the PDP by then President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“The major crux of the prosecution argument is that I ought to have known that the money was a part of an alleged and yet to be proven unlawful activity of Col Sambo Dasuki(retd.), former NSA to President Jonathan.
“The charge was brought regardless of the fact that neither President Jonathan who gave me the assignment and directed the release of the funds nor Col Dasuki(retd.), who effected the release of the funds have ever been interrogated nor even interviewed in this regard. As a matter of fact, officers of the office of the National Security Adviser have testified in court that the payment made to me followed all due process usually observed in the establishment.
“In view of the weakness of the case against me, the APC-led Federal Government resorted to all kinds of dirty tactics to dehumanise and intimidate me.
“They have done everything humanly possible to ensure complete persecution starting from bringing me to court in handcuffs (and parading the capture of Nigeria’s most wanted) to media trials and constant interference with my case.”
