Nigerians horrified as ABUJA Court Dismisses Fresh 50-count Criminal Charges Against Sylva

  A Federal High Court on Thursday, November 26, squashed a fresh 50-count charge of corruption brought against former governor of Bayelsa State and governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timipre Sylva and three others on the grounds that the charges constituted an abuse of court process.
In the fresh charges, Sylva is charged alongside Francis Okokuro, Gbenga Balogun, and Samuel Ogbuku.
They allegedly used three companies – Marlin Maritime Limited, Eat Catering Services Limited, and Haloween-Blue Construction and Logistics Limited to move about N19.2 billion from Bayelsa State coffers between 2009 and 2012, under false pretence of using the withdrawn money to augment salaries of workers.
The presiding judge,Justice Ademola, while delivering his sentence yesterday, agreed with counsel to the accused persons that indeed the fresh charges against his clients were a clear case of an abuse of court process.
Justice Ademola held that the mere fact that a court of coordinate jurisdiction dismissed the action had robbed his court of the jurisdiction to adjudicate on the matter.