Court declares Innoson wanted

Lagos High Court, Ikeja, yesterday declared the chairman of Innoson Group of Companies, Chief Innocent Chukwuma, wanted, following an oral application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The order followed an earlier bench warrant issued by Justice Mojisola Dada on the defendant for not appearing in court despite several invitations.
However, in his reaction, Chukwuma said the judge acted “without recourse to due process of the law or listening to the submissions of my counsel on why an order declaring me wanted should not be made.”
“My legal counsel had at the last court hearing on April 25, 2018, notified the court that I had challenged the jurisdiction of the court to hear the suit at the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, and that the prosecuting counsel, the EFCC, has equally filed their brief at the appellate court.
“Declaring me wanted was done in bad faith and is simply to embarrass my personality, defame me and malign my character aimed to distract me from my daily activities in ensuring that Innoson Vehicles continues to produce durable made-in-Nigeria vehicles,” he said.
While addressing the court at the beginning of proceedings, EFCC lead counsel, A.B.C. Ozioko, informed the court that they were not able to execute the court’s bench warrant. The EFCC counsel insisted that it was disrespectful for the defendant to fail to appear in court for the fifth time. He added that the court and the law should not be disrespected by anybody, no matter their standing in society.
However, lawyer to Innoson, Chief George Uwechue, SAN, said that even when the court does not want to listen to the application of a defendant, it was duty-bound to do so when it borders on challenging its jurisdiction to hear the matter under consideration and make a formal ruling on it.
He said: “At the last hearing, this honourable court on the 25th day of April, 2018, maintained its position at the previous hearing, that the court could not take any of the first and second defendants pending applications on the ground that the first defendant had not been arraigned. We submitted that the court has a duty to take any application, which challenges its jurisdiction or based on abuse of process.
“In that regard, my lord, we have the following applications directly challenging the jurisdiction of the court and on the grounds of abuse of process: the first and second defendants notice of preliminary objection dated 15th January, 2018, urges the court to dismiss the charge and discharge and acquit them for want of jurisdiction and abuse of process.
“This notice of preliminary objection can be taken in the circumstances but because there is an appeal, which has been entered, it will be more appropriate to stay action on that application until the appeal is determined.
“The application dated 12th February, 2018, also challenges the jurisdiction of the court and can be taken. We urge the court to make a formal ruling on this issue after due consideration of the authorities we cited above.”
The matter was adjourned till June 22, 2018.
In a press release issued yesterday by the head of corporate communications of the Innoson Group, Cornel Osigwe, in Nnewi, Chukwuma said he was not afraid of arraignment but must be arraigned through due process of the law.
He said, at the court hearing yesterday, his defense team also notified the judge that both parties had filed and exchanged their briefs at the Court of Appeal and a date had been fixed for hearing of the substantive appeal, and prayed the judge to defer to the Court of Appeal to decide the appeal which was on the jurisdiction of the court to hear the suit.
Chukwuma also said his legal team notified the trial court that he had appealed against the order of bench warrant of February 9, 2018, to the Court of Appeal and as well filed a motion for stay of execution of the order of bench warrant.
He alleged that the judge failed to grant the prayers of his legal counsel but quickly granted the plea of the prosecuting counsel to declare him wanted “without recourse to due process of the law or listen to the submissions of my counsel on why an order declaring me wanted should not be made.”
-Sun