Court declines to release Jonathan’s ex aide’s passport for foreign travel

A Federal High Court in Lagos Tuesday declined to order the
release of the international passport of a former Special Adviser
to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on Domestic Affairs,
Waripamo-Owei Dudafa, to travel abroad for medical treatment.

Justice Chuka Obiozor, a vacation judge, refused to entertain
Dudafa’s application, saying he was not convinced that there was
any emergency.

Dudafa’s application urged the court to release his passport to
enable him to travel abroad to treat a spinal cord injury.

He allegedly sustained the injury while in the custody of the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Dudafa, who is facing a N5.1billion fraud trial before Justice
Mohammed Idris of the same court, deposited his passport in the
court’s custody as part of his bail conditions.

But he told Justice Obiozor that he needed to urgently travel
abroad for a medical appointment and urged the court to release the
passport to him.

Defence counsel Kolawole Salami said the medical appointment was
earlier scheduled for July 18 and 19, 2017 but had to be
rescheduled for July 28, 2017 as Dudafa had yet to get access to
his passport.

He urged Justice Obiozor to hear and grant the application,
saying his client’s health was at stake.

But his prayer failed to convince the judge.

The judge reasoned that if there was truly an emergency, Dudafa
would have ensured that his application, which was filed since May,
was heard by Justice Mohammed Idris who ordered him to deposit the
passport, before the judge proceeded on vacation.

Justice Obiozor rejected Salami’s explanation that hearing of
the application before Justice Idris was stalled due to the EFCC’s
failure to respond to the application despite being served.

He said he would not be the one to release Dudafa’s passport to
him, and directed him to wait till October 16, 2017 when Justice
Idris, who ordered Dudafa to deposit the passport, would have
returned from vacation.

“Let him reschedule to October; he can reschedule to October,”
Justice Obiozor said.

The EFCC is prosecuting Dudafa on 23 counts bordering on fraud
and money laundering.

He is standing trial alongside his ex-account officer at
Heritage Bank, Joseph Iwuejo, who was said to have aided him to
perpetrate the alleged fraud.

The anti-graft agency alleged that between June 2013 and June
2015, Dudafa and Iwuejo, who also claimed to be Taiwo Ebenezer and
Olugbenga Isaiah, used different companies to fraudulently launder
various sums of money running into N5.1bn.

But Dudafa and Iwuejo pleaded not guilty to the charge.

A Federal High Court in Lagos Tuesday declined to order the
release of the international passport of a former Special Adviser
to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on Domestic Affairs,
Waripamo-Owei Dudafa, to travel abroad for medical
treatment.

Justice Chuka Obiozor, a vacation judge, refused to entertain
Dudafa’s application, saying he was not convinced that there was
any emergency.

Dudafa’s application urged the court to release his passport to
enable him to travel abroad to treat a spinal cord injury.

He allegedly sustained the injury while in the custody of the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Dudafa, who is facing a N5.1billion fraud trial before Justice
Mohammed Idris of the same court, deposited his passport in the
court’s custody as part of his bail conditions.

But he told Justice Obiozor that he needed to urgently travel
abroad for a medical appointment and urged the court to release the
passport to him.

Defence counsel Kolawole Salami said the medical appointment was
earlier scheduled for July 18 and 19, 2017 but had to be
rescheduled for July 28, 2017 as Dudafa had yet to get access to
his passport.

He urged Justice Obiozor to hear and grant the application,
saying his client’s health was at stake.

But his prayer failed to convince the judge.

The judge reasoned that if there was truly an emergency, Dudafa
would have ensured that his application, which was filed since May,
was heard by Justice Mohammed Idris who ordered him to deposit the
passport, before the judge proceeded on vacation.

Justice Obiozor rejected Salami’s explanation that hearing of
the application before Justice Idris was stalled due to the EFCC’s
failure to respond to the application despite being served.

He said he would not be the one to release Dudafa’s passport to
him, and directed him to wait till October 16, 2017 when Justice
Idris, who ordered Dudafa to deposit the passport, would have
returned from vacation.

“Let him reschedule to October; he can reschedule to October,”
Justice Obiozor said.

The EFCC is prosecuting Dudafa on 23 counts bordering on fraud
and money laundering.

He is standing trial alongside his ex-account officer at
Heritage Bank, Joseph Iwuejo, who was said to have aided him to
perpetrate the alleged fraud.

The anti-graft agency alleged that between June 2013 and June
2015, Dudafa and Iwuejo, who also claimed to be Taiwo Ebenezer and
Olugbenga Isaiah, used different companies to fraudulently launder
various sums of money running into N5.1bn.

But Dudafa and Iwuejo pleaded not guilty to the charge.