ALLEGED N360M BRIBE: Court says 23 INEC staff can face trial in Rivers

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday upheld the objection of 23 staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to be tried in Abuja.

The court therefore ordered that the accused be transferred and tried in Rivers State where the alleged offence for which they are being prosecuted took place.

The INEC officials were accused of accepting N360million bribe from Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State during the December 10, 2016 rerun election in the state.

The office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) had on March 7, filed a seven-count charge against the 23 INEC staff, accusing them of receiving N360 million bribe from Wike.

The defendants had challenged the decision of the Federal Government to conduct the proceedings of their trial in Abuja, when the offence they were accused of happened in Rivers State.

They therefore sought for the case to be transferred to Rivers State, a request the prosecution objected to and insisted on their trial in Abuja.

However, in a ruling on Monday, Justice John Tsoho upheld the objection raised by the INEC staff against their being tried in Abuja and held that the charge ought to be filed in the capital of Rivers State, Port Harcourt, where the alleged offences were supposedly committed.

The judge further accused the prosecution of being unable to provide any cogent evidence of insecurity in Port Harcourt to justify the filing of the charge in Abuja.

Justice Tsoho then held that in the absence of such evidence, provisions of Section 93 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015 and Section 45 of the Federal High Court Act, providing that charges must be filed in the area or place where the alleged offences were committed “shall apply”.

Based on this, he ordered the transfer of the case to Port Harcourt Division of the Federal High Court for the arraignment of the defendants.

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