Two top staff members of the Federal Government-owned Oil and Gas Free Zone Authority (OGFZA), Wasiu Sule and Alenju Ngofa have again shunned an Abuja Court where they are to be prosecuted for offences of alleged forgery and falsification of documents.
Sule is the Head of Legal Services and Secretary to OGFZA’s Board of Directors while Ngofa is the Human Resource Head of the organisation.
The Inspector-General of Police IGP filed the criminal charges against them before Magistrate Mabel Olusegun-Bello of Wuse Zone 2 Magistrate Court in Abuja.
However, the two defendants did not show up in the court to take their plea and were also not represented by legal practitioners.
Similarly, no explanations were offered for their absence despite being served with the charge sheet and hearing notice as required by law.
When the case was mentioned, the Registrar of the court informed the Magistrate that the defendants and the police counsel who is to handle the prosecution were not in court.
A lawyer, Mr Lekan Adesina, who represented the nominal complainant, Mr Funmi Omosule, had informed the court that the business of the day was the arraignment of the defendants.
He, however, expressed surprise that the defendants and police lawyer were not in court and offered no explanations.
In a short ruling, Magistrate Olusegun Bello though kept mute on the development but ordered that the arraignment of the top government officials be shifted to March 31.
The arraignment of the defendants had met various huddles since last year when the court gave the Commissioner of Police, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command, three weeks to produce the defendants in court.
The court gave the order after the then counsel to the nominal complainant, Nkereuwem Akpan, informed the court that the accused persons had evaded service of court processes on them despite several attempts.
The Magistrate also gave the Police Commissioner the go-ahead to investigate the defendants on allegations levelled against them.
OGFZA and Omosule had been locked in a legal battle over the legality or otherwise of his suspension, following his petition against some management staff of the agency on alleged corruption.
Omosule had alleged that the defendants wilfully and maliciously distorted his records “to appear as though he does not possess any requisite qualification to be employed at OGFZA or any qualification at all to be considered for promotion.”
He said their action was tantamount to forgery and falsification of documents contrary to Section 363 and 364 of the Penal Code, which is detrimental and injurious to his person.
