Court orders ICPC to halt probe of Abuja firm cleared by EFCC

I'm A federal high court sitting in Abuja has ordered the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) to free from investigation and release assets belonging to Blaid Construction company and Ochuko Momoh, its director. 

In a suit with file number FHC/ABJ/CS/132/2019, the company with its director had asked the court if ICPC had powers to further investigate after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), a parallel agency, had already carried out an investigation and the company cleared of wrongdoing. 

Blaid Construction, an Abuja based firm, sought an order restraining ICPC from investigating, and a directive to “vacate attachments placed on their assets and also erase all inscriptions made thereof particularly by notation “Keep off, under ICPC investigation.” 

Binta Nyako, the judge presiding over the matter, on Thursday overruled ICPC’s argument, saying there were no probable ground to keep holding on to the seized assets of the company. 

“Consequently upon this, I find and hold that no law enforcement agency can carry out investigation in perpetuity,” she said, in a copy of the judgement made available to TheCable. 

“Making reference before me, it appears that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had conducted investigation on the Plaintiffs and has not found any indictment against them leading to the discharge of the Interim Orders of Forfeiture and it is trite by virtue of Sections 8-6 of the ICPC Act, the commission is saddled with the responsibility of combating, investigating and prosecuting corruption in the public service and also the ICPC Act does not stop the Commission from inviting individuals to answer questions in the cause of their investigations.

“Furthermore, the Defendant cannot post a no debit on the accounts of the Plaintiff and also place inscriptions of ‘Keep off, under ICPC investigations’ on the properties of the Plaintiffs, which have been released by an order of Court more particularly as the Defendant has not placed anything before the court to justify the infraction or to show that it is a new investigation.” 

Granting the requests of the company, the judge advised ICPC to go back to court.