- Shehu Sani has commenced legal action against anti-graft body, the EFCC - Sani who is still in the custody of the EFCC said his conti...
- Shehu Sani has commenced legal action against anti-graft body, the EFCC
- Sani who is still in the custody of the EFCC said his continuous detention without trial is a gross violation of his fundamental rights
- The case came up in the court but was adjourned to Wednesday, January 22
Human rights activist and former lawmaker, Senator Shehu Sani, has demanded N100million damages from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over his detention. Sani who is still in the custody of the anti-graft commission said his continuous detention without trial is a gross violation of his fundamental rights.
The Kaduna ex-lawmaker has dragged the EFCC and one Alhaji Sani Dauda who accused him of extortion, to the Federal High Court, Abuja where a motion on the enforcement of his fundamental rights was heard on Monday, January 21.
The special adviser to Sani, Suleiman Ahmed, told The Guardian that the case came up in the court on Tuesday, January 21 but was adjourned to Wednesday, January 22. In the suit brought by Sani’s counsel, Abdul Ibrahim (SAN) before the court, he said the detention by the EFCC “without charging the applicant to a court of competent jurisdiction within FCT, Abuja is wrongful, unlawful, degrading, oppressive, null and void and thus constitutes infringements of his fundamental right to personal liberty enshrined under Section 35 (5) and (6) of the constitution.”
Sani’s counsel further asked for “an order of court admitting the applicant (Sani) to bail, pending any further investigation that the 1st Respondent may likely carry.out.” Ibrahim sought payment of N100 mIllion jointly or severally by the respondents as damages for the various infractions of the applicant fundamental human rights. Recall that the EFCC recently insisted that Senator Sani has questions to answer despite the outright denial of the former federal lawmaker over the allegations against him.
“Let it be stated clearly, that Senator Shehu Sani has questions to answer as regards the alleged involvement in name-dropping, and particularly obtaining $25,000 from Alhaji Sani Dauda, the ASD Motors boss, in order to help shield him from investigations being carried out by EFCC,” the commission said in a statement. To prove its case against Sani, the commission revealed that it has acquired incriminating audiotapes to boost its evidence in the allegations against the former lawmaker.
The tapes, which are 13 in number, contained conversations between Sani and Dauda, his accuser. The anti-graft agency was said to have played the tapes to the hearing of the ex-senator in the presence of his lawyers Audu Mohammed Lawal and Glory Peter on Wednesday, January 15.
The embattled former senator and activist, has, however, denied the claims, stating that the action against him was just to smear his image.
“The extortion allegation is nothing but a wholesale falsehood, packaged in a phantom anti-graft facade to taint, stain and mute me. That shall never happen if I am alive,” Sani said in a message sent to journalists from custody. Meanwhile, Ibrahim Muhammad, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), has described as false reports claiming that he was approached by Sani to influence the outcome of some cases against one Sani Dauda.
The CJN in a statement on Sunday, January 5, through Festus Akande, the spokesman of the Supreme Court, denied being involved in any unethical conduct as alleged in the media, adding that if the statement credited to the former lawmaker was actually made by him, it is a lie to tarnish his image and reputation.
By Jerrywright Ukwu
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