Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has asked the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal to declare the purported pardon granted to an Indian businessman, Ashok Israni and two others by the Lagos State government unconstitutional, null and void.
The counsel to the EFCC, Rotimi Jacobs made the submission while opposing the appeal filed by Israni, and two officials of Keystone Bank, Anayo Nwosu and Olajide Oshodi, seeking to quash their conviction over an N855 million fraud.
Jacobs submitted that many legal authorities affirmed that a pardon could not be granted to convicts whose appeal rights have not been exhausted.
The lawyer also argued that the purported pardon had robbed the appellate court of its jurisdiction to hear the appeal.
Members of the special panel of the Appeal Court hearing the case are Justice Joseph Shagbaor Ikyegh (presiding), Justice Ebiowei Tobi, and Justice B. I. Gafai.
Justice Kudirat Jose of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Igbosere had, on December 9, 2019, jailed Israni, Nwosu and Oshodi on an amended 15-count charge bordering on conspiracy and obtaining money by false pretence.
The judge had sentenced them to five years imprisonment each for stealing.
Justice Jose had also convicted NULEC Industries Limited belonging to Israni and Keystone Bank Limited, in her judgement.
The company and the bank were also ordered to pay a fine of N20 million to the federal government on counts 1, 10 and 13.
The judge also ordered the convicts to restitute the sum of N395 million to the victim of the fraud.
But four months after their conviction, they were released from prison by officials of the Kirikiri Centre of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCoS), allegedly on the directive of the Lagos State government, despite the pendency of their appeals before the upper court.
At the Appeal Court hearing yesterday, Jacobs adopted his brief of argument dated April 27, 2023. He submitted that there are several legal authorities to the effect that pardon cannot be granted to convicts whose rights of appeal have not been exhausted.
Jacobs urged the court to declare the purported pardon ‘illegal’ since the appellants’ appeals had been filed and entered since February 13, 2020. However, it could not be heard due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forestalled judicial activities.
The EFCC further claimed that immediately after one of the appellants, Anayo Nwosu, was released, he allegedly made many publications on social media platforms stating that he was wrongly convicted, jailed and maltreated because of the whims and caprices of the nominal complainant.
He urged the court to dismiss the appeal and uphold the lower court’s judgement.
Earlier, counsel to the appellants, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) and Biodun Owonikoko (SAN) adopted their briefs of arguments and urged the court to allow the appeal, set aside the judgement of the lower court and acquit all the appellants of all the charges filed against them.
In his submissions, Olanipekun informed the court that the appellants had filed an affidavit of facts which contained the instrument of the pardon granted to them by the Lagos State government, stating that it was the state that charged them to court. The state granted them bail due to the upsurge in COVID-19.
After listening to arguments from the parties, Justice Ikyegh reserved the appeal for judgement.
