More trouble for Ndume, as court declines to release him as Maina’s surety

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday, dismissed the application filed by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Defence (Army) Ali Ndume, seeking an order to discharge him as surety of the former chairman of the Pension Reforms Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, after he jumped bail.

Justice Okon Abang in his ruling held that the application filed by Ndume amounted to an abuse of court process, having filed an appeal before the Court of Appeal (Abuja Division) on the same matter.

Maina had about September 2020 jumped bail after he was released from Kuje Correctional Service Centre on July 27, nine months after his arraignment.

He was, however, rearrested in Niger Republic by security agencies and produced in court on December 4, 2020.

His release on bail was made possible following Ndume’s resolve to stand as his surety after the lawmaker used his Abuja property’s title documents worth N500m as bail bond in compliance with some of the bail conditions.

Delivering his ruling, Justice Abang, who said he had considered the arguments of both parties in the suit, held that he had no jurisdiction to entertain the lawmaker’s application dated December 15, 2020.

“Where an appeal has been filed, every application will be made before the Court of Appeal. Therefore, any issue can only be entertained by the Court of Appeal,” he said.

According to him, the fact that Maina, who jumped bail, was produced in court did not mean that the court, as presently constituted, could hear Ndume’s motion.

Abang stressed that since the issue of forfeiture of bail bond was already before the appellate court and the appeal entered, “the court is functus officio to hear the matter.”

He said since the appeal was already pending, “I have no jurisdiction to carry out a surgical operation on what is before the Court of Appeal. Where this happens, the court has the power to dismiss it.”

The judge then dismissed the application. Punch