Bankole Moves To Abort Trial

Embattled former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dimeji Bankole, who only recently secured bail on two criminal trials he is facing before a Federal High Court in Abuja and an Abuja High Court, has commenced moves aimed at thwarting his trial before the courts.

Citing the provisions of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act and the National Assembly Service Commission Act, Bankole stated that no court has the jurisdiction to try him for anything he did while exercising his powers as the speaker of the lower legislative chamber.

In an application seeking to quash the charges of illegally obtaining the sum of 38 billion Naira loan levelled against him before the Abuja High Court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the former Speaker, through his team of lawyers led by Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, a senior advocate of Nigeria, said that there was no shred of evidence to sustain the 17 counts charge.

According to him,”no court has the jurisdiction to try the Speaker of the House of Representatives in all matters which relates to or connected with the exercise of his official functions”.

In the application seeking to quash his trial, Bankole argued that  in the exercise of his duties in matters relating to his office as Speaker of the House of Representative, that he cannot be prosecuted for such acts, decisions and resolutions of the House of Representatives, taken at its Executive or Committee sessions, because the principle of vicarious liability was unknown to criminal law in Nigeria.
 
He averred that there is no iota of evidence contained or shown in the Proof of Evidence placed before the court capable of warranting the inference or conclusion that he was at any time entrusted with the House of Representatives Account No. 0039007000018 with the United Bank for Africa Plc as alleged in the charge brought against him by the anti-graft agency.

Furthermore, the former Speaker said that there was also no evidence in the proof of evidence before the court to show that he breached the provisions of Section 311 of the Penal Code Act Cap. 532, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (Abuja) 1990 in the manner alleged in the charge or that he committed a felony to wit: theft as being alleged by the EFCC.  

On the alleged offence of criminal breach of trust and theft slammed on him, Bankole averred that, as contemplated or defined in the Penal Code, that he cannot be said to have committed any crime by obtaining a loan to augment allowances and running costs of members of the House of Representatives in violation of the extant Revised Financial Regulations of the Federal Government  of Nigeria, 2009. 

His trial resumes on 19 July at the Abuja Court.

By Nnamdi Felix / Abuja