By Nkechi Eze
A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory sitting in Maitama, Abuja has dismissed a N20 million fundamental rights enforcement suit filed against the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
Mrs. Christiana Dagogo-George, Project Manager of Wiseworld Firm Consult Limited, instituted the suit and brought it before Justice U.P. Kekemeke.
Mrs. Dagogo-George alleged that her fundamental rights were violated when she was arrested and detained by the ICPC between October 17 and 19, 2022. Her arrest was in connection with a contract awarded to her company by the Nigeria Police Trust Fund in June 2022.
In the course of its investigation into contracts awarded and executed during the tenure of the former acting Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Police Trust Fund, Mr. Mohammed Alhaji Yahaya, the ICPC discovered that Mrs. Dagogo-George had secured eight training contracts through eight separate companies allegedly linked to her.
Demola Bakare the commission’s spokesperson in an official signed statement disclosed that according to the ICPC, each contract was valued at N36,964,441 (Thirty-Six Million, Nine Hundred and Sixty-Four Thousand, Four Hundred and Forty-One Naira only), and the training sessions were intended to take place in eight different locations across the country.
However, the Commission found that all eight companies were owned by Mrs. Dagogo-George and that, despite full payment, totaling over N100 million, being made to each company for the respective training sessions, the training only took place in three out of the eight designated locations.
The ICPC, in a counter-affidavit filed before the court, stated: “After payment was made to the Applicant in respect of the eight locations, the training sessions were subsequently merged into three locations, and the funds meant for the remaining five locations were diverted to personal use by the Applicant.”
Furthermore, the ICPC denied breaching Mrs. Dagogo-George’s fundamental rights. It stated that she was granted bail on the same day she presented herself for questioning. However, the Commission alleged that she violated the bail conditions by failing to respond to subsequent invitations.
The Commission averred that following repeated efforts to secure her cooperation, she eventually reported back, but her bail was revoked, and she was later granted fresh bail under new terms, which she failed to meet until January 18–19, 2023.
The ICPC also tendered evidence before the court showing that Mrs. Dagogo-George had undertaken to refund part of the unutilized funds, to the tune of N10 million.
In his ruling, Justice Kekemeke held that the applicant failed to prove that her right to personal liberty had been violated during her detention between October 17 and 19, 2022. The court further noted that a lawful invitation for investigation purposes does not constitute a breach of fundamental rights.
“I have also carefully examined the documents attached to the Applicant’s Written Address. They are a mere surplusage. They carry no legal weight before this Court and are hereby discountenanced. In totality, the Applicant has not made out a case for the grant of the reliefs sought. The application fails and is hereby dismissed,” Justice Kekemeke ruled.
