{"id":20805,"date":"2013-12-13T21:58:38","date_gmt":"2013-12-13T20:58:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=20805"},"modified":"2013-12-13T21:58:38","modified_gmt":"2013-12-13T20:58:38","slug":"george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal\/","title":{"rendered":"George: Lawyers react to Supreme Court\u2019s fraud conviction reversal"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

Some lawyers in Lagos have reacted to the reversal of the fraud conviction of a People\u2019s Democratic Party leader, Chief Olabode George.<\/p>\n

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the Supreme Court on Friday reversed the fraud conviction of George.<\/p>\n

Justice Joseph Oyewole of an Ikeja High Court had convicted George of contract splitting on Oct. 26, 2009, and sentenced him to 30 months imprisonment without an option of fine.<\/p>\n

The politician allegedly committed the offence at the Nigerian Ports Authority when he was the Chairman of the organisation\u2019s board of directors.<\/p>\n

George challenged his conviction before the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, but lost.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court held on Friday that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had no evidence against George.<\/p>\n

According to the apex court, a charge of contract splitting was unknown to Nigerian laws.<\/p>\n

Reacting to the judgment, a human rights activist and lawyer, Mr Bamidele Aturu, said that it was a setback in Nigeria\u2019s fight against corruption.<\/p>\n

Aturu said: \u201cI think it is unfortunate and that decision is going to encourage corruption.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat the trial judge (Oyewole) said is that if you went beyond the approved contract limit, you have committed what the law cannot close its eyes to.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the Supreme Court to say that there is no such concept in our law, may encourage public officers to circumvent the restrictions placed on their spending. \u201c<\/p>\n

Mr Onyekachi Ubani, Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ikeja branch, described the decision of the apex court as \u201cshocking\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ubani said: \u201cI won\u2019t want to say much until I see the detail of the judgment and the reasons the judges adduced for upturning the conviction.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

However, Mr Adetokunbo Mumuni, Executive Director, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, a human rights group, blamed the EFCC for alleged shoddy investigation and prosecution of the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the duty of the prosecution to gather the necessary facts and build a good case against an accused before charging him to court.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they fail to file a competent charge against the person, it is the duty of the court to apply the law and acquit him, \u201c Mumuni said.<\/p>\n

He said that the judiciary would not sacrifice the law and the Constitution for fighting corruption.<\/p>\n

Another lawyer and former lawmaker, Mr Ehiogie West-Idahosa, noted that any judgment of the Supreme Court was final and should be accepted in good faith.<\/p>\n

West-Idahosa, a former member of the Federal House of Representatives (Ovia North-East and Ovia South-West Constituency), urged the EFCC to intensify its anti-corruption campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lesson to be learnt from this case is that nobody is above the law.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason corruption is ravaging this country is that some people believe that they can get away with anything.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe EFCC should continue the fight against corruption by charging those high profile suspects, who are still walking free, to court, \u201c he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some lawyers in Lagos have reacted to the reversal of the fraud conviction of a People\u2019s Democratic Party leader, Chief Olabode George. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20806,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nGeorge: Lawyers react to Supreme Court\u2019s fraud conviction reversal - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"George: Lawyers react to Supreme Court\u2019s fraud conviction reversal - Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Some lawyers in Lagos have reacted to the reversal of the fraud conviction of a People\u2019s Democratic Party leader, Chief Olabode George. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-12-13T20:58:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/bode.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Our Reporter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Our Reporter\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Our Reporter\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\"},\"headline\":\"George: Lawyers react to Supreme Court\u2019s fraud conviction reversal\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-12-13T20:58:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal\/\"},\"wordCount\":488,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/bode.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal\/\",\"name\":\"George: Lawyers react to Supreme Court\u2019s fraud conviction reversal - Pointblank News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/bode.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-12-13T20:58:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/bode.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/bode.jpg\",\"width\":750,\"height\":400},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"George: Lawyers react to Supreme Court\u2019s fraud conviction reversal\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/\",\"name\":\"Pointblank News\",\"description\":\"Just the news\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\",\"name\":\"Our Reporter\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Our Reporter\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"George: Lawyers react to Supreme Court\u2019s fraud conviction reversal - Pointblank News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"George: Lawyers react to Supreme Court\u2019s fraud conviction reversal - Pointblank News","og_description":"Some lawyers in Lagos have reacted to the reversal of the fraud conviction of a People\u2019s Democratic Party leader, Chief Olabode George. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the…","og_url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal\/","og_site_name":"Pointblank News","article_published_time":"2013-12-13T20:58:38+00:00","og_image":[{"width":750,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/bode.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Our Reporter","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Our Reporter","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal\/"},"author":{"name":"Our Reporter","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c"},"headline":"George: Lawyers react to Supreme Court\u2019s fraud conviction reversal","datePublished":"2013-12-13T20:58:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal\/"},"wordCount":488,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/bode.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal\/","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal\/","name":"George: Lawyers react to Supreme Court\u2019s fraud conviction reversal - Pointblank News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/bode.jpg","datePublished":"2013-12-13T20:58:38+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/bode.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/bode.jpg","width":750,"height":400},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/george-lawyers-react-to-supreme-courts-fraud-conviction-reversal\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"George: Lawyers react to Supreme Court\u2019s fraud conviction reversal"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/","name":"Pointblank News","description":"Just the news","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c","name":"Our Reporter","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Our Reporter"},"url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}