June 06, (THEWILL) – A former Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, has filed an appeal to challenge a court ruling dismissing his suit seeking the arrest and prosecution of former Vice President and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar.
THEWILL had reported that the presiding judge of the Federal High Court, Abuja, Justice James Omotosho, on Monday, dismissed the suit for lack of merit.
The former Minister made the disclosure in a statement signed by the Assistant Head of Festus Keyamo Chambers, Abuja Office, John Ainetor (Esq).
The statement reads: “Earlier today, Mr. Festus Keyamo, SAN, CON, filed an appeal against the ruling of the Hon. Justice J.K Omotosho of the Federal High Court, dismissing his suit, which sought to compel law enforcement agencies to investigate Atiku Abubakar over the SPV saga.
“We have raised an initial four grounds of appeal with a possibility of raising additional grounds of appeal. (Find the initial copy attached)
“Mr. Keyamo has a rich history of taking it upon himself to challenge unconstitutionality, corruption and the breach of the rule of law by public officials. Like ALL lawyers from time immemorial, he has won some, lost some and some are still pending in court. That is what the struggle is all about. And that is THE SAME SITUATION with our legal icons of blessed memories.
“This case is not an exception. The battle will be taken all the way to the apex court. Mr. Keyamo is not about to back down now.”
Keyamo had in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/84/2023, asked the court for an order compelling Atiku Abubakar “to submit himself to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission (ICPC) and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for thorough investigation.”
He had alleged that Abubakar, while in office as vice-president from 1999 to 2007, used a bank account, including that of Marine Floats and two other accounts of undisclosed companies, as “special purpose vehicles (SPVs)” to secretly divert and misappropriate public funds.
