Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has responded to
\nthe alleged \u2018campaign of calumny against Mrs Dame Patience Jonathan\u2019 by
\nasking the Federal High Court to \u201cdismiss her suit with substantial cost.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mrs Jonathan and her group Union of Niger Delta Youth Organization for
\nEquity, Justice and Good Governance had accused SERAP in suit number
\nFHC\/L\/CS\/1349\/2016 dated 6th October 2016 of \u201cusing online, print and
\nelectronic media to publish to the public unfounded and malicious
\nallegations that she stole $15m (US) and ought to be prosecuted.\u201d<\/p>\n
But SERAP in a preliminary objection dated 27 October 2016 and signed by
\nits executive director Adetokunbo Mumuni stated that, \u201cPatience Jonathan\u2019s
\nclaims cannot be maintained because they are brought on her behalf by a
\ngroup that is unknown to law. Mrs Jonathan\u2019s group is not a registered
\norganization envisaged by law. This very point calls into question the
\nlegal capacity to file this suit against SERAP, and the jurisdiction of
\nthe court to entertain her suit.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the case came up for hearing before Justice\u00a0C.M.A\u00a0Olatoregun on
\nFriday 28 October 2016 SERAP was represented by its lawyer Babatunde
\nOgala, former Chairman of the Lagos State House of Assembly\u2019s Committee on
\nJudiciary.<\/p>\n
SERAP\u2019s preliminary objections read in part: \u201cSince the process of court
\nhas not been used bonafide and properly it is unnecessary to consider
\nwhether or not there is a genuine case on the merits. An abuse of court
\nprocess is not the specie of sins called an irregularity. It is a much
\nmore fundamental vice which is deserving of the punishment of dismissal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe suit as constituted discloses no reasonable cause of action against
\nSERAP and as such unmaintainable. Mrs Jonathan and her group cannot and
\nhas not articulated what legal wrong SERAP has done or what legal dispute
\nthey have with SERAP. They have not shown that the matter is justiciable
\nand that a dispute exists between them and SERAP. Mrs Jonathan\u2019s case
\nagainst SERAP is therefore a flagrant abuse of court process and as such
\nmust be dismissed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe commencement of this suit through Originating Summons by Mrs Jonathan
\nand her group is wrong and faulty. Originating Summons is absolutely
\ninappropriate to commence an action where the facts are in dispute. It is
\nevident from the processes filed by Mrs Jonathan and her group that this
\nsuit will definitely be disputed by SERAP.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo stamp and\/or seal of the solicitors to Mrs Jonathan and her group is
\nfixed to the Originating Summons and as such is incompetent and not
\ncognizable by the court. A document filed shall be deemed not properly
\nsigned or filed if it has no fixing of the seal and stamp, and the court
\ncannot consider such document.\u201d<\/p>\n
It would be recalled that one Union of Niger Delta Youth Organization for
\nEquity, Justice and Good Governance suing for themselves and on behalf of
\nMrs Dame Patience Jonathan had sued SERAP on 6th October 2016 before the
\nFederal High Court in Lagos.<\/p>\n
Mrs Jonathan and her group had asked the court for \u201can order of interim
\ninjunction restraining SERAP from taking any further steps in further
\nvilification, condemnation and conviction of the Former First Lady Mrs
\nDame Patience Jonathan, in all public media and in the use of the judicial
\nprocess for that purpose by the extremely publicized pursuit of any
\napplication for the coercion of the Attorney General of the Federation to
\nprosecute the Plaintiff\/Applicant for owning legitimate private property,
\npending the hearing and determination of the Originating Summons.\u201d<\/p>\n
The suit is also seeking \u201can order directing SERAP to stay all action and
\nto desist forthwith from proceeding against Mrs Dame Patience Jonathan,
\nwith any process whatsoever, pending the hearing and determination of the
\nOriginating Summons.<\/p>\n
The suit by Mrs Jonathan and her group also claimed that, \u201cThe campaign by
\nSERAP is in breach of Mrs Jonathan\u2019s right to be presumed innocent until
\nproved guilty under Section 36(5) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as
\namended). The action by SERAP seeks to coerce the Attorney General of the
\nFederation to embark on a breach of the same right when the Attorney
\nGeneral is in a better position than SERAP and the Court to know whether
\nor not there is any evidence of wrongdoing by Mrs Jonathan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP\u2019s action is blatant misuse of the processes of this Court. SERAP
\ntherefore no longer deserves to continue as an incorporated entity and
\nought to be dissolved. It is just and equitable to dissolve SERAP in the
\ncircumstances of this case. Damages will not be adequate compensation for
\nthe irreparable damage Mrs Jonathan will suffer if the application is not
\ngranted. The Plaintiff undertakes as to damages in favour of SERAP in the
\nevent the instant application ought not to have been granted.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere has been a running battle between the Economic and Financial Crimes
\nCommission (EFCC) and Mrs Jonathan with respect to the release of her
\nlegitimately earned funds which were deposited in accounts opened in the
\nnames of certain companies by one of her husband\u2019s aides without her
\nauthorization.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe funds in question were legitimate gifts from her friends and
\nwell-wishers over the last 15 years which she had been saving in order to
\nutilize to upgrade family businesses and concerns which had been somewhat
\ndormant by reason of the long period of her husband service as a public
\nofficer in Nigeria.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe gifts were given in small contributions by several persons some of
\nwhom she cannot even now recall over this period of 15 years sometimes in
\nas small a gift as N250,000 Naira. In order to preserve the value of these
\nfunds which she did not require for any purpose at the time she changed
\nthem into foreign exchange and kept them as cash for a long period in her
\nhome safe in Port Harcourt and Abuja.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was when the family home in Otuoke was burnt down by hoodlums under
\nthe instigation of political adversaries in 2010 that she began to think
\nabout banking these gifts which had now grown to large sums in United
\nStates Dollars. In 2010 she therefore summoned one of her husband\u2019s
\ndomestic aids, Waripamo-Owei Emmanuel Dudafa to assist her in opening bank
\naccounts into which the funds could be deposited.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUnknown to her the said Dudafa in a bid to be discreet about the owner of
\nthe funds decided to bank the funds in the names of companies owned by
\nhim. When she discovered this she was constrained to continue with the
\nnames of the companies when she was advised that it did not make any
\ndifference as to the ownership of the funds since the director of the
\ncompany would appoint her as sole signatory to the accounts in question.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen in 2016 Dudafa was arrested and detained she had no fear for the
\nfunds as she realized that the funds could not be attributable to him once
\nit was discovered that she was the sole signatory to the said accounts. It
\nwas therefore a rude shock to her when she discovered that a no
\ntransaction order had been placed on the accounts by the EFCC in the
\nbelief that the funds belonged to Dudafa.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe instructed her solicitors to further write to the EFCC to inform them
\nthat the funds belong to her and that they formed a part of her legitimate
\nearnings over the last 15 years. It was this letter that was leaked by the
\nEFCC to the media that became sensationalized and led to the plaintiff\u2019s
\nvilification and attack by ignorant persons who had no information about
\nthe matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP is playing to the public gallery in order to gain the notoriety it
\nhas achieved over the past years. SERAP has done this mostly by
\nintervening in high profile issues without regard to the rights of persons
\nit claims to protect. SERAP jumped into the fray of ignorant accusations
\nbeing made against Mrs Dame Patience Jonathan in the public media and has
\nbegun a campaign of calumny against her using online, print and electronic
\nmedia to publish to the public unfounded and malicious allegations that
\nshe stole the funds in question and ought to be prosecuted.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP has maintained this position, notwithstanding the fact that there
\nis no evidence whatsoever by which Mrs Jonathan could be prosecuted for
\nobtaining the funds through unlawful means. In furtherance of this
\ncampaign, SERAP, being in breach of its own objects for which it was
\nincorporated, has continued to proclaim the guilt of Mrs Jonathan in the
\nmedia and recently was widely reported in the news media to have commenced
\na self-serving action to attempt to coerce the Attorney General of the
\nFederation to prosecute her.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has responded to the alleged \u2018campaign of calumny against Mrs Dame Patience Jonathan\u2019 by asking the Federal High Court to \u201cdismiss her suit with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n