Mr. Mike
Igbinedion, an aide to the former Edo State governor, Lucky Igbinedion has
resolved to challenge his sentencing by Justice A.M. Liman of the Federal High
Court in Benin City at the Appellate Court, reports ITRealms.
Sources
close to Igbinedion, disclosed to ITRealms that the former Governor’s aide
would be challenging the judgement of April 30, 2015 which fined him, Mike
Igbinedion, the sum of N1,000,000.00 each on three counts or serve prison
sentence of 2 years on each of the count.
ITRealms
gathered that the outcome of the alleged politically motivated case has generating
several reactions with some claiming that the judge played to the gallery with
the kind of judgement and attendant fine on Michael Igbinedion.
The next
step by Mike Igbinedion may not be unconnected to scores of advice from legal
experts who described the judgement as malicious, especially considering the circumstances
of his office as Personal Assistant to the Governor, a position that made it
inevitable for him to handle cash well over N500, 000.00 allowed by the Money
Laundry Act.
The experts
had also made references to the precedence of cases involving Femi Fani-Kayode,
and the Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker and his Personal Assistant who were
earlier found not guilty of the same offence, adding that there is urgent need
for a review of the Nigerian justice system.
Going
through the arguments of Michael Igbinedion’s lawyer, the experts argued, it is
obviously clear that the Money Laundry Act was enacted specifically to
checkmate activities of narcotic trafficking and may not have considered
transactions, such as spending of security votes by the president or governors.
Igbinedion’s
lawyer had also submitted that the practice of cash payment was well
established in the government and that Michael at that particular time acted as
an agent of the government.
A Public
Affairs analyst, Mr. Orobosa Omo-Ojo, told newsmen that the
trial and conviction of Michael Igbinedion amounts to jungle justice, when
considered against the backdrop that he was never in any position in
government, either as Commissioner, Special Adviser or Special Assistant, where
money was budgeted or allocated to his office and thus misused or peculated.
“His only
crime is that he followed the laid down financial rules and regulations
prescribed for the office of the Personal Assistant to the Governor, as well as
implementing the statutory instructions of his Principal, the Governor,”
Omo-Ojo said.
He further said that it is obvious that Mike is a victim of high stakes politics and that he was convicted on flimsy ridiculous counts. The Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) wanted to use the Igbinedion family as scapegoat in their illogical fight against corruption in Nigeria. They were vindictive and acted out a script. That explains why they went for a strict liability offense because they knew they had a bad and seriously flawed case.”
Mr Omo-Ojo,
JP however called on the Nigerian Law Reform Commission to
realize that the 1995 and 2004 Money Laundry Act is now out of tune with the
reality of 2015 monetary system.
Isaac Oyimah/GEE
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