REP DRAGS JUDGE TO ICPC OVER CORRUPTION
The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission (ICPC) to probe allegations of official corruption against Alhaji M. U. Akoyi, the judge of Upper Area Court sitting in Gwagwalada.
Ruling in an ex-parte motion brought before Justice A. A. Kafarati of the Federal High Court in Abuja, in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS234/2010, ICPC was asked to investigate allegations of official corruption levelled against Alhaji Akoyi by the spokesman of the House of Representatives, Hon. Eseme Eyiboh.
Justice Kafarati said he was relying on the affidavit deposed to by Eyiboh, particularly in paragraph 20, to grant an order of mandamus, compelling ICPC to investigate the judge of Upper Area Court, Gwagwalada. Eyiboh accused Alhaji Akoyi of breaching all known legal processes, when he endorsed for execution, a writ of possession issued outside the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on a landed property.
According to Eyiboh, Akoyi acted on a letter from the Upper Sharia Court of Hadejia in Jigawa State dated January 31, 2008, asking the police to aid the enforcement of a writ of possession of a property in Abuja as issued by the Sharia Court.
Before seeking for court order to ask ICPC to probe the Upper Area Court, the House spokesman had petitioned the chairman of ICPC requesting, among others, whether the conduct of Alhaji Akoyi did not amount to official corruption within the meaning and intendment of all relevant laws, especially the ICPC Act and the Penal Code.
And whether a judge of an Upper Area Court is the sheriff or deputy sheriff for the purpose of authorizing the execution of a writ of possession issued from a state outside the Federal Capital Territory.
Eyiboh had been locked in a battle with the administrators of the Estate of the late Sheikh Mujaddadi over the property he purchased some time in 2007 with legal instruments, including a Certificate of Occupancy.
Shortly after the conclusion of transactions, another person showed up as the rightful owner of the property, leading to series of legal fireworks to resolve the gridlock.