A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja in Monday struck out a suit by the Federal Government of Nigeria, seeking to extradite the suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, to the United States of America.
In his ruling, Justice Inyang Ekwo held that the application filed by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice,Abubakar Malami was incompetent, lacked merit, and was instituted in bad faith.
Justice Ekwo stated that the government has no basis to file the extradition request as Kyari is already facing trial in a case filed against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.
The federal government instituted the extradition charges against the embattled Deputy Commissioner of Police to pave way for his extradition to the US over alleged conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and identity theft.
A grand jury, on April 29, 2021, filed an indictment against Kyari with the approval of the US district court for the Central District of California, after which a warrant was issued for his arrest.
In July 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) indicted Kyari in a $1.1 million fraud involving an Instagram celebrity, Hushpuppi.
He was consequently suspended by the police top brass, following his indictment by the probe panel set up by the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba.