Appeal Court affirms decision refusing release of Metuh Int’l passport

Andrew Orolua, Abuja

The Court of Appeal Abuja division on Wednesday dismissed the appeal filed by former National publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olisa Metuh challenging the refusal of the Federal High Court to release his international passport to enable him travel abroad for medical treatment. The Court of Appeal in a unanimous judgment said the appeal was a gross abuse of court process, as similar appeal by Metuh and his Destra Investment Limited had earlier been refused. Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Abdul Aboki said that there was nothing in the instant appeal different from Metuh earlier appeal that was dismissed by the Supreme Court for lacking in merit. “Nothing in the court record to show that the trial Court judge who refused to release the appellant International passport to enable him travel abroad for medical treatment was bias”, he held. He said the appellant prayer was “reckless and unpardonable abuse of process” particularly when there is nothing in the record of proceeding to show that the trial court wrongly evaluated the evidence before it. “There must be concrete evidence to show that the court was bias. Is on record that this case had suffered several adjournments granted to the first defendant and failure to attend trial.” “The appellant appeal totally lacks merit and is hereby dismissed. The ruling of the trial court is hereby affirmed,” Justice Aboki held. Chief Metuh had approached the Appeal Court challenging the refusal of Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court in Abuja to release his international passport to enable him to travel to a London Hospital for a scheduled surgery. In his appeal, predicated on 12 grounds, the former PDP spokesman complained that Justice Abang “manifested obvious bias” against him by failing to exercise his discretion judicially and judiciously when he dismissed his application based on “imaginary facts not borne out of the facts” in the application, thereby occasioning a miscarriage of justice. The appellant also complained that Justice Abang erred in law and misdirected the court by dismissing his application to travel abroad for medical treatment on unfounded claims that he had been employing delay tactics to frustrate proceedings. The appellant further complained that Justice Abang, strayed away from the application before the court and accuse him of acting a script, using illness to frustrate early conclusion of the trial and having a hidden agenda, and without any evidence, relied on them to dismiss his application. Justice Aboki in his judgment yesterday affirmed the ruling of the trial Court judge. Metuh, who is facing N400 million money laundering charge had on several occasions been on admission in various hospitals in Nigeria over a worsening spinal cord ailment which he claimed doctors had recommended surgery as definitive treatment and referred him to the London hospital since 2016. The prosecution had since closed its case and Metuh had opened his defence. He had called about ten witnesses including himself testifying at the last sitting two weeks ago.