Human Rights Activist, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa says he withdrew his suit challenging the continued detention of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, at a Lagos high court because he “got concrete information from the EFCC that he was going to be arraigned in court on Thursday.”
Speaking in a telephone conversation with DAILY POST on Thursday, Adegboruwa added that he was also convinced to do so because Metuh’s lawyer, Chief Emeke Etiaba SAN, gave him similar assurance that the PDP spokesman, who has been in detention since January 5, will likely be arraigned today at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Revealing that information at his disposal has it that the EFCC already filed a case to the effect on Wednesday night, he said, “So I did not want my case to be like a hindrance to such trial. Once he (Metuh) is going to be released and charged to court I’ve no reason to continue my case. My main mission was to avoid a situation where he will be kept in custody incommunicado.”
On what he will do if Metuh is not arraigned as anticipated, he noted that Etiaba assured him that he had late last week filed an application for the release of Metuh, challenging his detention in Abuja, adding that it was not made public because the case has not yet be assigned.
“So, they already have an application challenging Metuh detention before the Federal High Court which Chief Etiaba told me he filed. So I guess they will continue with that application,” the Lagos-based lawyer stated.
While clarifying that neither Metuh nor his party requested him to institute the court action whose withdrawal he announced on Thursday,Adegboruwa explained, “I instituted the case on my own principles as an activist. I respected Metuh because of the critical stand he has been taking in respect of government’s policies and I thought that we needed somebody like that to be hearing the other side, not just for us to be treated to stories from the government every day.
“He is discharging the same role that Lai Mohammed was playing when APC was in opposition. So, I didn’t want him to be silenced on the ground of any phantom charges but if there is a charge that has been filed, I cannot stop EFCC from doing their work.”
On whether Metuh will still have the moral grounds to hold the Buhari government to account after his release, the activist-lawyer said it is dependent on the evidence they eventually present against the PDP spokesman, adding that, “As it is now, the person who is a suspect is entitled to the presumption of innocence.
“If you recall in this country, several politicians that have been charged to court have been accorded that presumption. Senator Iyiola Omisere contested for Senatorial election in his district from Ilesa Prison while standing trial for the murder of Chief Bola Igeh. He won that election in prison and eventually was discharged. He became the chairman of Senate Committee on Appropriation in the 7th National Assembly.
“So, the fact of an allegation cannot rubbish a person’s morality. It is when there is a proof or a conviction or the man himself has admitted before you can question his moral authority. Among the ministers of Buhari presently, there are so many of them that have been alleged or accused, it is until they submit themselves to trial and they are convicted before we can ever say that they have lost their moral authority,” Adegboruwa stated.
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