A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has struck out a fundamental rights suit brought against the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) by one Mr. James Ereboye.
The suit, which sought to question the ICPC’s power to place a ‘Post No Debit’ on the plaintiff’s account without a court order, was adjudged as lacking in merit.
The plaintiff had also sought the order of the court to compel the ICPC to pay him the sum of forty-million, two hundred and eighty-seven thousand, two-hundred and nine-naira (N40, 287, 209) and a cost of legal services of five million naira (N5,000,000).
In his ruling on the matter on Thursday, Justice Emeka Nwite said the suit itself was an abuse of court process and lacked merit.
The judge explained that the suit, which had earlier been decided by his learned colleague, Justice Babangida Hassan of a court of coordinate jurisdiction, and which has also been filed at the Court of Appeal, need not have been brought to his court.
Justice Nwite added that he found the suit “appalling” and described it as “judicial rascality” and an abuse of court process.
He therefore awarded damages against the plaintiff.
In his words, “It is a classical act of abuse of court process. I deliberately refuse this rascality. The court has the right to invoke its coercive power to punish the plaintiff, and I hereby order that the sum of Two Hundred Thousand naira be paid to each of the defendants (ICPC, Sterling Bank, and Polaris Bank).”
The judgment further upheld ICPC’s powers as contained in section 45 (1) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000 to place a “post no debit” on any account suspected as fraudulent or which is the object of investigation without a court order; a law which the plaintiff believed infringed on his right and was seeking for the lifting of the clause on the account as well as payment of other damages.