Bode George, others regain freedom soon.
Former Nigeria Port Authority NPA board chairman and a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, Olabode George, and five others sentenced to a two-year jail term by a Lagos High Court will soon breathe air of freedom.
George and others were already making preparations to leave the prison yard but the authorities of the Nigerian Prison Service declined to disclose the exact date of their release for security reasons.
Justice Joseph Olubunmi Oyewole of an Ikeja High Court had on October 26, 2009 sentenced George and five other former board members of the NPA-the Managing Director, Aminu Dabo, Captain Olusegun Abidoye, Abdullahi Aminu Tafida, Zanna Maidaribe and Engineer Sule Aliyu to two years each on a sevencount charge.
It was learnt that in line with the prison calendar, one-year jail term is about nine months.
George and others have, however, been in custody since October 26, 2009.
But there are indications that George and others may regain their freedom before the expiration of their prison terms if the much expected judgment of the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, is in their favour.
The appellate court justices to determine their fate are Justice Clara Bata- Ogunbiyi, (Presiding), Justice Hussein Mukhtar and Justice Gana Mshelia.
Counsel to Gorge, Tunji Ayanlaja SAN, had, during one of the proceedings, urged the court to expedite hearing of the appeal for his client not to suffer unduly.
Ayanlaja had reminded the court that George and others had almost completed their prison terms, arguing that they would have suffered unduly if the appellate court in its judgment set side the decision of the lower court.
The appellants had, in two separate applications, brought pursuant to Order 7 Rule 1 and Order 16 Rule 13 of the Court of Appeal as well as Section 28 [1] [2] and 3 of the Court of Appeal Act, 2004, prayed the court to grant them bail pending the determination of their appeal.
But in a unanimous decision, the appellate court justices in their ruling held that granting their request would set a bad precedent.
Justice Ogunbiyi in her lead ruling held that assumptions of innocence no longer apply to the appellants, adding that none of the convicts had been refused medical treatments outside the prison.
The court held that all the appellants had unrestricted access to medical treatment within the country and that the court could not guarantee their return to the country if they were allowed to travel abroad for treatment.
The former South-West deputy chairman of the PDP was charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in 2008 for contract inflation to the tune of N84bn with five other board members during his tenure as the chairman of the NPA board between 2000 and 2003.
According to the charges, they were alleged to have, among others, conspired on June 6, 2003 to inflate the contract price for the rehabilitation of Kalmar Container Handler from 215,555.52 Euro to 269,965.71 Euro.
They were also alleged to have inflated contract awarded to Dateks Ltd for the replacement and installation of six 11KVA high tension panels with accessories at Sub-Station C, Tin Can Island Port, Lagos, from 310,500.40 Euro to 345,925.00 Euro.
Former Nigeria Port Authority NPA board chairman and a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, Olabode George, and five others sentenced to a two-year jail term by a Lagos High Court will soon breathe air of freedom.
George and others were already making preparations to leave the prison yard but the authorities of the Nigerian Prison Service declined to disclose the exact date of their release for security reasons.
Justice Joseph Olubunmi Oyewole of an Ikeja High Court had on October 26, 2009 sentenced George and five other former board members of the NPA-the Managing Director, Aminu Dabo, Captain Olusegun Abidoye, Abdullahi Aminu Tafida, Zanna Maidaribe and Engineer Sule Aliyu to two years each on a sevencount charge.
It was learnt that in line with the prison calendar, one-year jail term is about nine months.
George and others have, however, been in custody since October 26, 2009.
But there are indications that George and others may regain their freedom before the expiration of their prison terms if the much expected judgment of the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, is in their favour.
The appellate court justices to determine their fate are Justice Clara Bata- Ogunbiyi, (Presiding), Justice Hussein Mukhtar and Justice Gana Mshelia.
Counsel to Gorge, Tunji Ayanlaja SAN, had, during one of the proceedings, urged the court to expedite hearing of the appeal for his client not to suffer unduly.
Ayanlaja had reminded the court that George and others had almost completed their prison terms, arguing that they would have suffered unduly if the appellate court in its judgment set side the decision of the lower court.
The appellants had, in two separate applications, brought pursuant to Order 7 Rule 1 and Order 16 Rule 13 of the Court of Appeal as well as Section 28 [1] [2] and 3 of the Court of Appeal Act, 2004, prayed the court to grant them bail pending the determination of their appeal.
But in a unanimous decision, the appellate court justices in their ruling held that granting their request would set a bad precedent.
Justice Ogunbiyi in her lead ruling held that assumptions of innocence no longer apply to the appellants, adding that none of the convicts had been refused medical treatments outside the prison.
The court held that all the appellants had unrestricted access to medical treatment within the country and that the court could not guarantee their return to the country if they were allowed to travel abroad for treatment.
The former South-West deputy chairman of the PDP was charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in 2008 for contract inflation to the tune of N84bn with five other board members during his tenure as the chairman of the NPA board between 2000 and 2003.
According to the charges, they were alleged to have, among others, conspired on June 6, 2003 to inflate the contract price for the rehabilitation of Kalmar Container Handler from 215,555.52 Euro to 269,965.71 Euro.
They were also alleged to have inflated contract awarded to Dateks Ltd for the replacement and installation of six 11KVA high tension panels with accessories at Sub-Station C, Tin Can Island Port, Lagos, from 310,500.40 Euro to 345,925.00 Euro.
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