Metuh who was brought to court under tight security, orally applied to the trial Judge, Justice Okon Abang, through his counsel, Onyeachi Ikpeazu (SAN) to admit him on bail on the ground that the offence he allegedly committed was a bailable one.
Ikpeazu, while praying the court to grant his client bail cited section 162 of the administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 to buttress his argument for the bail of the PDP spokesman.
The prosecution counsel, Sylvanus Tahir, while objecting to the oral application for Metuh’s bail, told the court that the defence ought to have applied formally in writing for the bail of the defendant.
Ikpeazu objected to that submission saying that, the trial is a summary one and that the court can exercise its discretion to grant a bail based on an oral application and cited the case of Abiola vs FRN reported in 1995 to buttress his submission.
He said, “We do not intend to go outside the law, but to rest the application on the constitutional right of the defendant. We are not going beyond the charge against him, so the issue of bringing an affidavit does not arise”.
Ikpeazu therefore pleaded with the court to exercise its discretion by granting Metuh bail.
Justice Okon Abang will however rule on January 19 on whether or not to admit Metuh on bail.
Part of the charge read: “That you, Olisa Metuh and Destra Investment Limited on or about the 24th November, 2014 in Abuja took possession of the sum of N400m paid into the account of Destra Investment Limited with Diamond Bank Plc, Account No: 0040437573 from the account of the office of the National Security Adviser with the Central Bank of Nigeria without contract award when you reasonably ought to have known that the said fund formed part of the proceeds of an unlawful activity of Col. Mohammed Sambo Dasuki (Rtd) the then National Security Adviser (To Wit: criminal breach of trust and corruption) and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 15(2), (d) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 as amended in 2012 and punishable under Section 15(3) of the same Act”.
