The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrashid Bawa, has said that the commission has appealed the ruling convicting him for contempt of court.
In his reaction to the ruling of Justice Chizoba Oji of the FCT High Court on Tuesday, Bawa said that the law would be allowed to take its natural course in the matter.
“Well, we have appealed against it, so we will allow the natural course of law to take its effect.”
The EFCC Boss reacted shortly after appearing before the House of Representatives Committee on Anti-Corruption to defend his agency’s budget, on Tuesday.
The High Court of the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja, on Tuesday convicted the EFCC Chairman contempt of court.
The EFCC Chairman was convicted in connection with the failure of the Commission to obey a court order issued on November 21, 2018.
Justice Chizoba Oji ruled that “the Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is in contempt of the orders of this honourable court made on November 21st 2018 directing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abuja to return to the applicant his Range Rover (Super charge) and the sum of N40, 000,000.00 (Forty Million Naira).
“Having continued wilfully in disobedience to the order of this court, he should be committed to prison at Kuje Correctional Centre for his disobedience, and continued disobedience of the said order of court made on November 21st, 2018, until he purges himself of the contempt.”
The court had granted an order for the EFCC to return the Range Rover and N40 million to thebdefendant, a former Director of Operations at the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Rufus Adeniyi Ojuawo.
Ojuawo was arraigned on a two-count charge before Justice Muawiyah Baba Idris of the High Court of the FCT in Nyanya in 2016 for allegedly receiving N40 million and a Range Rover Sport (Supercharged) from one Hima Aboubakar of Societe D’Equipment Internationaux Nigeria Limited.
Ojuawo’s Counsel , Mr. R.N. Ojabo, had drawn the attention of the court to the fact that the EFCC had not complied with the order.