Former lawmaker, Onamusi Onadeko, has appealed his conviction for making inconsistent statements to investigators after an FCT High Court in Abuja discharged and acquitted him on 10 of the 11 counts bordering on alleged corruption and diversion of public funds.
The appeal follows the July 30 judgment of Justice Chizoba Oji, who found Onadeko guilty on one count of making inconsistent statements during an ICPC investigation and sentenced him to nine months’ imprisonment with an option of a N50,000 fine.
Onadeko’s legal team, in a statement signed by his lead counsel, Wahab Olatoye, on Monday, said it had filed an appeal against the lone conviction, insisting that the verdict would be challenged.
The statement read, “Our legal team is currently studying the full judgment and the ratio decidendi on the conviction.
“Consequently, we have received instructions to immediately file an appeal against the conviction on the count of making inconsistent statements.”
The judgment was delivered on July 30 by Justice Chizoba Oji in Charge No. FCT/HC/CR/311/17 between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Onadeko, bringing to an end an eight-year trial instituted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.
On Saturday, the ICPC’s spokesman, John Odey, had in a statement said the judge, Justice Chizoba Oji, found Onadeko guilty on Count 11 for making inconsistent statements and acquitted him on counts 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10.
He also said the court held that Onadeko’s letter of appointment, together with the Supreme Court’s decision in the case of Federal Government of Nigeria v. Farouk Lawan, established that legislative aides are public officers within the meaning of the ICPC Act.
According to Olatoye, the court discharged and acquitted the former lawmaker on 10 counts of corruption and diversion of public funds after finding that the prosecution failed to establish the allegations.
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He said, “After 8 years of trial, the curt discharged and acquitted Hon. Onamusi Onadeko on a 10-count charge out of an 11-count charge of corruption and diversion of public funds brought against him by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission [ICPC] since 2018.
“In delivering judgment, the court relied heavily on the evidence of PW1, PW2, PW3 and PW4. All the prosecution witnesses testified that the contracts in question were awarded in strict compliance with the Public Procurement Act.”
However, he said the court convicted him on the 11th count, which related to making inconsistent statements during the ICPC investigation, with an option of a N50,000 fine.
Olatoye said the team respected the judgment and urged the media and the public to report the outcome accurately while allowing due process to take its course.
“However, the court convicted him with an option of a fine of 50,000 on count 11 relating to alleged inconsistent statements made during investigation by the ICPC. We respect the judgment of the Court. Our legal team is currently studying the full judgment and the ratio decidendi on the conviction, “he said.
The former lawmaker, who represented Ogun East Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives between 1999 and 2003, was arraigned by the ICPC in 2017 over alleged irregularities in the execution of N68.7m constituency projects while serving as Senior Legislative Aide to the late Senator Buruji Kashamu between 2015 and 2019.
The anti-graft agency had alleged that Onadeko used two private companies, Stanton Engineering Limited and Haines and Baines Limited, to execute constituency projects involving the procurement of ambulance vehicles, supply of hospital equipment and drugs to primary healthcare centres, and construction of classrooms in six communities in Ogun East Senatorial District.
The ICPC further accused him of making conflicting statements about his relationship with Haines and Baines Limited, alleging that he claimed in a 2016 affidavit to be a director of the company but later told investigators in 2017 that he was neither a shareholder nor a director.
