•Ready for Supreme Court over denial of bail
From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
Detained former National Security Adviser (NSA) Col. Mohammed Sambo Dasuki (rtd) has said he is not afraid to stand trial in the criminal charges against him.
The ex-NSA, whose application for bail was thrown out by the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, said he is ready to proceed to the Supreme Court to appeal the decision of the appellate court.
Three different High Courts in Abuja had admitted him to bail in the criminal charges filed against him by the federal government, but he is still being held in custody.
He lost on Wednesday, at the Court of Appeal, in his bid to enforce his freedom and stop his trial in the alleged fraud charges brought against him by government.
However, his counsel, Mr. Ahmed Raji (SAN) confirmed to Daily Sun, yesterday, that appeal papers have been put together and ready to be filed at the Apex Court against the judgment of the Court of Appeal and the High Courts, that gave judgment to government on the re-arrest after bail.
The lawyer stated that there were sufficient grounds for his client to approach the Supreme Court to seek the enforcement of his freedom from detention ordered by the federal government, after he had been granted bail by three Judges prosecuting him on the charges.
The appeal at the Apex Court may be filed by his team of lawyers by tomorrow in order to expedite its determination by the justices of the court. Dasuki had claimed that he was not afraid of trial in the charges of corruption bordering on money laundering and breach of trust, while he held sway as the National Security Adviser, but added that the proper thing must be done by government by respecting the bail granted him lawfully by courts.
He claimed that since government had approached court in his matter, the same government must be fully ready to abide by court decisions in the interest of justice and the rule of law.
The ex-NSA had been admitted to bail by three different high courts in Abuja but he was re-arrested on December 29, 2015 by operatives of the Department of the State Security Service (DSSS) on the alleged order of the federal government, and had since been held incommunicado.
But the government in its defence in a motion on notice filed in court claimed that Dasuki, being a Crown Prince of Sokoto Caliphate had large sympathizers across the length and breadth of the country, who may jeopardise his trial if allowed on bail. The Court of Appeal had in its judgment of Wednesday said that Dasuki’s reasons advanced to stop his trial were not tenable to stop the federal government from prosecuting him.
Dasuki had asked the high courts and the Court of Appeal to stop the federal government from further prosecuting in the criminal charges until the bail granted him is obeyed and also pleaded that the courts should no longer grant indulgence to the federal government, having been in contempt of the courts by the refusal to allow him freedom after the bail.
He therefore filed a motion before the three high courts, asking them to stop his trial and to also stop indulging the federal government until he had been allowed to enjoy the bail.
He lost at the three counts which held in their separate rulings that he had been released on bail before his re-arrest and that they have no reason to stop his re-arrest by agencies with statutory powers to do so.