The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by a former Spokesperson for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Olisa Metuh, seeking to upturn the decision of a Federal High Court, Abuja, by releasing his international passport for him to travel abroad.
It would be recalled that Metuh is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for alleged N400 million fraud.
EFCC spokesman, Tony Orilade in a statement said, “He had on February 22, 2017, through his counsel, Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, applied for the release of his passport in order to “travel to the United Kingdom for five weeks to attend to his failing health”.
Earlier, Justice Okon Abang had dismissed the application as “lacking in merit”, and sternly warned his counsel against deploying tactics to delay the trial, which has been ongoing since January 6, 2016.
Dissatisfied with the ruling, Metuh had approached the Appellate Court, praying for the release of his travel document.
But the Court of Appeal on January 30, ruled that his application was “an abuse of court process”, as he failed to disclose cogent reasons for him to seek medical attention abroad.
Following the latest ruling, Metuh’s trial before Justice Abang will continue on February 25.
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