12th November, 2015
Eromosele Ebhomele
Chief Ambrose Ambrose Owuru, candidate of the of the Hope Democratic Party, HDP, has lost his bid to have the N66 million fraud case against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, quashed.
A Federal High Court, sitting in Port Harcourt, River State and presided over by Justice B. O. Quadri overruled a preliminary objection filed by G.I. Abibo, SAN, on behalf of Owuru over his prosecuted by the EFCC for a phony land deal.
According to an EFCC statement, Owuru was on 2 August, 2013 arraigned before the late Justice Suleiman Aliyu of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt, River State on a five-count charge bordering on uttering, forgery and obtaining money by false pretence to the tune of N66 million.
The complainant, whose name was not given, had alleged that he had paid the sum of N60 million through a Skye Bank account to the accused person for a property located on Nzimiro Street, Amadi Flat, Port Harcourt, Rivers State sometime in March, 2011.
Unknown to him, the property had been sold to one Chief Austin Omire.
The further stated that the accused person later collected an additional N6 million from him to allegedly settle Omire.
One of the five counts against Owuru read: “that you, Ambrose Owuru, on or about the 7th day of March 2011 at Port Harcourt, Rivers State, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, with intent to defraud did obtain the sum of N60,000,000 from Ikechukwu Eze on the pretence that you have sold to him four plots of land situated at Plot 44A, Amadi Layout- Port Harcourt, a pretext which you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 1(1) (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 punishable under section 1(3) of the same Act.”
Another count reads: “that you, Ambrose Owuru, on or about the 7th day of March 2011 at Port Harcourt, Rivers State, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, did alter a forged Certificate of Occupancy dated 20th of March 1990 purportedly issued by the Rivers State Lands and Survey covering Plot 44A Amadi Layout, Port Harcourt and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 1(2) ( c ) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act CAP M17 of the Revised Edition (Law of the Federation of Nigeria) 2007, and punishable under section 1(2) of the same Act.”
The accused person had pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were read to him.
But at the Federal High Court, the defence counsel raised a preliminary objection before the late Justice Aliyu to quash the charges preferred against the accused person on the grounds that he already had a civil matter against the complainant in another court.
Delivering his ruling however, Justice Quadri overruled the preliminary objection filed by the defence counsel on the ground that the criminal trial would not obstruct proceedings in the said civil matter.
Justice Quadri adjourned the matter to February 1, 2016 for commencement of trial.