By Baron Ike
Abuja High Court on Tuesday, April 25 quashed fresh charges brought against the sacked Vice Chairman of First Guarantee Pension Limited (FGPL), Nze Chidi Duru by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on the grounds that the charge violated a pending court order.
The EFCC had on Febraury 27, 2017 arraigned Duru over diversion of N16.1m belonging to FGPL through forgery and money laundering to his personal benefits while he was the Vice Chairman of FGPL.
Duru pleaded not guilty to the charges and proceeded also to challenge the validity of the charges through a preliminary objection to the suit No. FCT/HC/CR/75C/2017 before Honourable Justice Peter Affen of Court 24, FCT High Court, Maitama, Abuja.
In a ruling, Justice Affen quashed the charge and held that it is an abuse of court process because it was in defiance of a pending court order by Justice Donatus Okorowo, which nullified the Target Examination Report (TER) on which the charges were based.
Affen said Duru could not be charged based on the Target Report until Okorowo’s judgment was set aside in order not to avoid a fait accompli on the pending appeal.
The Court, therefore, discharged Duru based on this technicality, but held that the alleged crimes on stealing, conspiracy, impersonation, and breach of public peace brought against him by the police over invasion of the FGPL office in Lagos will be determined.
Duru was arraigned before a Lagos Magistrate Court by the Police in Zone II, Onikan, Lagos on January 16, 2017 and the matter was adjourned to May 9, 2017 for continuation of hearing.
Meanwhile, Duru’s counsel are optimistic that he will still get justice anytime he returns to the court in respect of the matter on the deliberate effort of some interested persons to forcefully age him out of the FGPL which he founded.