Court affirms powers of ICPC to declare ex-NSCDC Deputy Commandant wanted

A Federal High Court in Abuja has affirmed the powers of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to declare one Mr Mbuotidem Edike wanted.

Mr Folu Olamiti, the spokesman of the ICPC, said this in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday.

He said the deputy commandant had approached the court to enforce his fundamental human right.

Edike, a former Deputy Commandant, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), filed a suit challenging the powers of the ICPC to declare him wanted on the pages of newspapers.

The statement said that the applicant had argued that he was not properly invited by the commission for investigation before it declared him wanted in a newspaper advertorial.

It said that Edike had sought for N10 million damages against the commission for declaring him wanted on the pages of newspapers.

The statement said that Justice Evoh Chukwu in a ruling, however, denied the applicant powers to enforce his right since due process was followed before the newspaper publications.

Chukwu said that the respondents had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the applicant was duly invited for investigation before the newspaper publications.

“The evidence before this court clearly showed that the respondents did the best they could to invite the applicant for investigation but was not honoured.

“On this premise, the court holds that the respondent has acted right to declare the applicant wanted on pages of newspapers since every effort made to reach him yielded no result,” the statement quoted the judge as saying.

Chukwu, therefore, awarded N50,000 against the applicant as the cost of litigation.