The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has asked a Federal High Court in Lagos to dismiss a motion seeking the imprisonment of Nigeria’s Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, over contempt of law.
The motion was filed by embattled former Minister of Finance Nenadi Usman, through her lawyer, Fedinand Orbih.
The former minister, who is on trial for alleged money laundering, wants Mohammed arrested for naming her as one of Nigeria’s treasury looters.
The minister of information had listed Usman among 23 alleged looters.
According to her, Mohammed was aware of the charge against her, yet he published a list of looters in several media platforms on April 1, where her name featured prominently as having looted N1.5 billion.
And the anti-graft agency’s lawyer, Rotimi Oyedepo, said the motion brought by Usman was an abuse of court process.
He said, "The minister of information is not a party to the criminal proceedings against the applicant; there is no evidence to show that the alleged contemnor works with the various media houses that published the alleged offensive publication.
"Besides, there were no allegations against the media houses that published the alleged offensive publication.
"There was nothing that connected the ministry of information to the motion which was taken out to annoy the prosecution; the motion is lacking in substance, it is an abuse of court’s process and should be dismissed.”
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