Contempt: Court Grants EFCC’s Motion for Stay of Proceedings

Ex-parte request for stay of proceedings brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against the contempt proceedings started by former Kogi State governor Yahaya Bello has been granted by Justice Joseph Oyewole of the Court of Appeal in Abuja.

The commission chairman, Ola Olukoyede, was asked to appear before the Kogi State High Court on May 13, 2024, by the former governor, to demonstrate reason why he should not be put to prison for violating the court’s orders.

The EFCC was allowed to serve the processes in the appeal on the former governor by other methods by the court of appeals in a decision.

The court so postponed the hearing on the motion until May 20, 2024.

After the trial court summoned him, the EFCC chairman appealed and asked for a suspension of the proceedings.

As of February 9, 2024, the Kogi High Court has charged the EFCC head with contempt for performing “some acts upon which the EFCC has been restrained,” while the substantive originating motion is still ongoing.

Declaring that “the EFCC carried out the said act in violation of the order, which was valid and subsisting when they carried out the act, and that the same act of the respondent amounts to contempt,” Justice Jamil of the Kogi High Court issued a verdict.