Chrys
A federal high court in Abuja, on Monday, restrained the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt
Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) from detaining Abdulaziz
Yari, a former governor of Zamfara state.
Giving the order on an ex-parte motion filed by Michael
Aondoakaa on Yari’s behalf, Donatus Okorowo, the judge, also stopped the
Department of State Services (DSS) from detaining the senator-elect, pending
the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.
Okorowo ordered the respondents (EFCC, ICPC, DSS) to show
cause in the next adjourned date on why the prayers sought on the motion
ex-parte should not be granted.
“The respondents are however restrained from detaining the
applicant until the return date for the order to show cause,” the judge ruled
and adjourned the matter until June 8.
Through his team of lawyers led by Aondoakaa, former
minister of justice, Yari had filed the ex-parte motion marked
FHC/ANJ/CS/785/23 asking the court to restrain the EFCC, ICPC and DSS from
arresting him.
In the motion dated and filed on June 2, Yari sued the EFCC,
ICPC and DSS as 1st to 3rd defendants respectively.
He prayed the court to stop the three agencies from
arresting and/or threatening to arrest and detain him to prevent him from
participating in the proclamation of the 10th senate by President Bola Tinubu
on June 13.
Yari, who gave 15 grounds on why the application should be
granted, averred that he was desirous of contesting the position of the
president of the senate in accordance with the 1999 constitution (as amended),
and pursuant to the senate standing orders 2022 (amended).
He said his aspiration to contest the position had received
overwhelming support from the general public and senators-elect irrespective of
party affiliations.
The former governor said the support which he has continued
to garner across party lines has drawn consternation from some members of his
political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), who have allegedly
resorted to using the respondents and their agents to harass and threaten to
arrest and detain him on trumped-up charges for the period leading to the first
sitting of the senate when nominations and election of presiding officers would
be constituted.
“The respondents and their agents have threatened to violate
the applicant’s rights as enshrined in the constitution by unlawfully
threatening to arrest and detain the applicant,” the motion reads.
“The respondents and
their agents are mandated to operate within the ambit of their establishment
laws, and to respect the fundamental human rights of the applicant as enshrined
in the constitution.”
Yari said if the order was not given, his rights would have
been breached by the respondents.
In May 2022, the EFCC arrested Yari over alleged fraud
relating to the subsidy reinvestment and empowerment programme (SURE-P).
The former Zamfara governor was also arrested in connection
to the fraud allegations levelled against Ahmed Idris, the suspended
accountant-general of the federation.
