By Stephen Ojo
High Court 6, Minna, presided over by Justice Belkisu Gambo Yusuf has issued a warrant of arrest against the Managing Directors of United Bank of Africa (UBA) and that of First Bank for failing to appear in court for arraignment in a criminal case of refusing to pay taxes amounting to billions of Naira to the Niger State government.
The Managing Directors being ordered for arrest are that of UBA, Mr. Oliver Alawuba and Mr Asesola Kazeem Adedutan of the First Bank.
The judge issued the warrant of arrest on Wednesday in a ruling on the application moved by the counsel to the complainant (Niger State Internal Revenue Service), Mohammed Ndayako (SAN) on the failure of the defendants to appear in court having been served the court summons.
Ndayako argued, “the defendants, First Bank and the Managing Director of the Bank are not in court. I confirmed that they have been served with the summon of this Honourable Court and they did not give reasons why they are not in court. The First Bank and the Managing Director are not too big to obey this court criminal summon which is an order”.
However, responding to the application, defendants counsel Usman Ashafa, argued that there is a pending preliminary objection on the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the matter, adding that it is therefore not necessary for the defendants to be in court until after the court ruling on the preliminary objection.
Justice Gambo however disagreed with the defendants counsel holding that the absence of the defendants is a clear act of disobedience to court, adding that, “I hereby issue warrant of arrest for arraignment of the defendants”.
Also in the case involving UBA and the Managing Director of the Bank, Ndayako explained that the defendants counsel applied for adjournment through a letter, adding that “both the counsel and the bank Managing Director are not in court “. He applied for warrant of arrest against the Managing Director of the Bank which was granted by the court.
Meanwhile the counsel to the complainant Mohammed Ndayako SAN in another criminal summon against Fidelity Bank, explained that parties in the matter have opted for out of court settlement.
When the case was called for hearing on Wednesday, the plaintiff counsel told the court that, “we have reached amicable settlement of the matter and we will file a withdrawal application at the next adjourned date.”
Justice Gambo adjourned the cases of Fidelity Bank and First Bank to September 7,2024 while that of UBA has been adjourned to 10th September, 2024.
Follow Krestnews on www.krestnews.com Also on Facebook, WhatsApp, X(twitter)and Telegram