Members of one Eletu family and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. S.B. Joseph, have asked a Federal High Court in Lagos to restrain the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission from inviting or arresting them for interrogation.
The applicants, who appeared before Justice Mohammed Yunusa on Monday with an ex parte application, claimed that the ICPC had been sent after them by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Afe Babalola, for the purpose of recovering an alleged unpaid legal fee of $10m.
According to them, Afe Babalola had won a land dispute case for the family at the Supreme Court on July 12, 2013.
But the applicants, who are seeking court’s protection from ICPC, claimed that they were not signatory to a written agreement which their fathers entered with Afe Babalola to pay a legal fee of $10m.
They claimed that Afe Babalola’s law firm had been paid a sum of N5m by their fathers, who engaged the services of the firm, adding that they had also paid an additional fee of N200m.
Their lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, who accused the ICPC of abusing its powers, argued that the statutory duties of ICPC do not cover land or civil disputes.
According to him, the invitation of the applicants by the ICPC at the alleged instigation of Afe Babalola was a violation of sections 37, 38, 40 and 41 of the Constitution, under which the fundamental human rights of the applicants were preserved.
He also claimed that the invitation violated Articles 4, 5, 6, 9, 12 and 14 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, Cap. 10, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990.
While moving the ex parte application on Monday, Adegboruwa questioned the authority of the ICPC in a case where “no crime is alleged and no corruption is involved.”
“My Lord, the investigative activities of the 1st respondent into the civil transaction conducted among the applicants and their privies is ultra vires the 1st respondent, and is therefore unconstitutional, null and void,” he claimed.
He urged the court to declare as illegal, any move by ICPC to compel the applicants to either pay any sum of money or surrender any piece of land to anybody.
He also urged the court to make an order restraining the ICPC and its operatives from using threat, arrest or detention to compel the applicants to attend any meeting convened by ICPC in respect of the land and legal fee dispute.
The applicants in the suit marked FHC/CS1315/2015 are Chief Waheed Eletu, Alhaji Mudashiru Eletu, Prince Demola Eletu, Prince Kazeem Eletu, Mr. S.B. Joseph, Mr. A.A. Agboluaje and Mr. L.A. Ashimi.
The respondents in the suit are ICPC and the Attorney General of the Federation.
After taking argument from Adegboruwa, Justice Yunusa asked the parties to maintain status quo.
He adjourned further proceedings till September 14, 2015.
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