U.S. court orders Buhari, EFCC chairman to produce documents in Simbi Wabote’s oil fraud proceeding
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has ordered President Muhammadu Buhari to produce documents in the ongoing defamation case between the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board executive secretary, Simbi Wabote, and the U.S.-based Nigerian journalist Jackson Ude.
In a court document seen by Peoples Gazette on Tuesday, the court ordered Mr Buhari to produce all documents that authorised Mr Wabote to operate foreign bank accounts against provisions of the Nigerian constitution.
The constitution bars public officeholders, including the president, from operating or maintaining foreign bank accounts.
The court instructed Mr Buhari to present “any, every, and all the documents fully and specifically explaining why plaintiff, Simbi Wabote, is allowed by the Nigerian government to operate foreign bank accounts while the other public officials and public officers are prevented and/or forbidden from opening and/or operating foreign bank accounts.”
It also asked authorities of NCDMB to produce before it all documents relating to every and all bank accounts information of the NCDMB from January 1, 2018, to date.
The order was extended to EFCC chairman Abdulrasheed Bawa, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha.
Mr Wabote had earlier sued the journalist in a U.S. court for character defamation. He claimed that Mr Ude defamed his character in an online publication on Pointblanknews.com, where the journalist accused him of financially compromising his position and abusing the privileges of his office as the NCDMB boss as Nigeria prepared to launch the Liquefied Natural Gas Train 7.
However, Mr Ude’s attorney prayed the court to ask Mr Buhari to present documents explaining if and why he allowed Mr Wabote to operate foreign bank accounts against provisions of the country’s constitution.
Also joined in the subpoenaed order were Isaac Yalah of NCDMB; Mohammed Umar, Director, Legal Services, NCDMB, Saipem Contracting Nigeria Limited, Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.
More from Peoples Gazette
Agriculture
FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology
The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices
Politics
Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku
“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”
States
ISWAP chief photographer, other media team members killed in sustained military operations
The spokesperson said several other key fighters sustained severe injuries as they fled under intense military pressure.
Heading 2
New Jersey registered 6,600 non-citizens as voters in error: Governor Sherrill
The governor attributed the error to a software glitch in the state’s Motor Vehicle Commission.
Abuja
Three Abuja security guards in court over alleged theft of scaffold pipes worth N1.8 million
The prosecutor said that the offence is contrary to Sections 79 and 289 of the Penal Code.
NationWide
Navy hands over two rescued victims of human traffickers to NAPTIP
Mr Folorunsho said that the handover was conducted by Forward Operating Base (FOB) BADAGRY, on July 19 at the agency’s Lagos Zonal Command in Ikeja.
States
Insecurity: Tinubu approves establishment of army battalion in Kwara
The battalion will be stationed in Omu-Aran, the headquarters of Irepodun Local Government Area.
World
Saudi oil tankers make U-turn in Red Sea as Houthi militants threaten attack
Three oil tankers carrying Saudi crude to China and India made U-turns in the Red Sea on Tuesday following a threatened attack from Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi militia.
