THE Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt, Rivers State division has overturned a previous bench warrant of arrest issued against former state governor, Rotimi Amaechi, along with two others.
Tonye Cole, All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the 2023 election, and Austine Wokocha, Commissioner for Power under Amaechi, were also named in the original warrant.
The recent court decision comes in response to an appeal filed by Amaechi and his co-defendants, seeking to invalidate the lower court’s order.
The appeal was assessed by a panel of three judges, with a majority of two decided to set aside the order. The remaining judge disagreed with this outcome.
Justice Abdul-Azeez Waziri, who delivered the ruling prepared by Presiding Judge Joseph Ikyegh, held that the lower court’s order was a defiance of the Court of Appeal.
He revealed that the arrest warrant was issued while Amaechi already had a challenge to the service of information, under Section 313 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law in the state, lodged with the Appeal Court.
Amaechi’s lawyer, Achinike Wobodo, while reacting to the judgment, emphasized that the lower court should have respected the court hierarchy in the nation’s judicial system.
Alphonsus Sibi, counsel for the state government, accepted the appeal court’s decision in good faith.
The arrest warrant, originally issued last month by a High Court in Port Harcourt, pertained to a criminal case initiated by the Rivers State government.
The dispute involves the sale of public assets, including the state’s gas turbines, by the Amaechi administration to Sahara Energy, a company owned by businessman-turned-politician Cole.
Eighteen-Eleven Media