June 05, (THEWILL) – A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Monday, dismissed a suit filed by Festus Keyamo (SAN), seeking the investigation of former Vice President and 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, for alleged corruption.
Keyamo, a former campaign spokesperson for President Bola Tinubu, had accused Atiku of using ‘Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs)’ to corruptly enrich himself while he was vice president of Nigeria between 1999 and 2007.
The former Minister of State for Labour and Employment relied on an affidavit allegedly deposed to by Atiku’s former media aide, Michael Achimugu, against his former boss in filing his suit.
He had prayed the court to compel anti-corruption agencies in the country to investigate Atiku for his alleged corrupt activities.
While ruling on the suit on Monday, Justice James Omotosho held that the suit lacked merit and was premature since Keyamo did not wait for the relevant law enforcement agencies to investigate the allegation he raised against Atiku before he rushed the matter to court.
The court held that Keyamo was unable to disclose any reasonable cause of action in the suit to warrant the court to exercise its discretion in his favour.
Justice Omotosho consequently dismissed the suit for want of competence.
But in a swift reaction, Keyamo, in a statement by his lawyer, vowed to appeal the ruling.
“Earlier today, a Federal High Court in Abuja, dismissed the case filed by Festus Keyamo, SAN, CON, against the candidate of the PDP in the last presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, over the SPV saga principally because the court was of the opinion that the law-enforcement agencies were not given enough time to commence investigations before the suit was filed, amongst other sundry reasons.
“Our client respectfully disagrees with the reasons for the said decision because the law-enforcement agencies did not indicate their willingness to commence investigations, even if they were given more time. We want to establish a legal principle that society cannot wait as infinitum for law-enforcement agencies to do their statutory duties.
“The suit was designed to prompt the agencies to show their readiness to investigate. We are immediately filing an appeal against the said decision to the Court of Appeal, as the struggle on this issue continues,” Keyamo’s lawyer, John Ainetor, said.
