The Federal Capital Territory, FCT, High Court has dismissed the suit filed against The Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo- Agege, over the allegation that he concealed information about his earlier conviction in the United States.
In a judgment on Wednesday, Justice Othman Musa, held that the suit was a mere waste of the court’s time as there was no evidence that Omo-Agege was ever convicted by any court of law nor was he under any criminal sentence.
The Deputy President of the Senate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, was alleged to have been arrested for the forgery of $890 cheque, and a four-count amended charge was filed against him in the State Bar Court of the State of California, Los Angeles, in 1996.
On this note, a group organisation in Nigeria filed a suit seeking that under Section 31(5) of the Electoral Act, 2010 as amended, Senator Omo-Agege provided false information about his conviction to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, while seeking office.
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Delivering judgement in the case, Justice Othman Musa, held that the case against Senator Omo-Agege in the US was a non-criminal trial by a Judicial Commission of Inquiry which does not amount to a conviction.
Justice Musa also said that a disciplinary matter, which he challenged in the United States, did not find him guilty and that the Senator was not under any obligation to furnish the INEC any information in respect to the proceedings in the US.
The judge, however, awarded the cost of N1m against the claimant for filing a frivolous suit aimed at denting the image of the Deputy Senate President.