Mrs. Stella Oduah, a former Minister of Aviation, has stated that she is unaware of any new criminal charges brought against her by the Police under the name of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Addressing journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, Oduah, through her lawyer Mr. James Onoja, SAN, asserted that she had neither been served with the charges nor subjected to any investigation by the Nigeria Police Force.
According to Oduah’s lawyer, his client has not received any invitation to provide a statement from any government agency prior to the filing of these baseless charges by individuals named Ochogwu Ogbe and Ibrahim Mohammed, who claim to be lawyers with the police.
He further highlighted that the charges lacked the required proof of evidence containing Oduah’s statement and did not include any witnesses from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). Onoja also noted that the two police lawyers responsible for filing the charges failed to affix their seal of practice.
Moreover, the address listed on the purported charge indicated the EFCC’s office at No. 1, Court Road, Benin City in Edo State. The senior lawyer raised doubt as to whether the charge originated from the police or the EFCC.
Onoja disclosed that his legal team visited the EFCC headquarters to investigate the anonymous charges and the EFCC denied any knowledge of them.
“The spurious allegations against our client of not participating in NYSC have been dismissed by the Supreme Court in her favor.
“The fresh charge against my client is a violation of the Code of Conduct for prosecutors as issued by the Federal Ministry of Justice and punishable under Article 7, part B of the Code,” he said.
He expressed gratitude to Justice James Omotosho for interrogating the lawyer responsible for issuing the charge and agreeing to appear for prosecution. He viewed the judge’s actions as confirmation that the court had reservations about the irregularities evident in the charge.
