Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has turned down a request by the immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, seeking the release of his international passport, saying that the medical report attached to the application was not signed by its maker.
Delivering the ruling, Justice Nwite, however, held that contrary to the submission of the prosecution team, the application was not an abuse of the court process.
The defendant had applied for the release of his travel document to enable him to travel to the United Kingdom for medical attention.
The judge said counsel to the defendant argued that the applicant was a known hypertensive patient for about 15 years.
The lawyer, Joseph Daudu, SAN, was also said to have presented Exhibits A and B, which constituted an expert report on the health status of the applicant, saying that sufficient materials had been placed before the court to exercise its discretion in favour of the applicant.
The judge also recalled that the prosecution team argued that the application was an abuse of the court process.
While urging the court to dismiss the application, counsel to the prosecution noted that the reliefs sought were similar and that the motion was technically incompetent as the sureties to the defendant were not informed.
On the issue of suretyship, the court held that the matter before it was Yahaya Bello v. FRN, and not vs the sureties.
The judge further aligned with the argument of the counsel to the defendant, ruling that the surety ought not to be included in the application.
“The counsel to the complainant did not cite any section of the law that says sureties should be given notice or made a party in the motion on notice,” he said.
“The counsel did not cite any law, whether locally or internationally, to back his argument.
“On the abuse of process of court, it is the argument of the complainant that the instant application is incompetent and amounts to abuse of the court process.
