A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a suit filed by Festus Keyamo, SAN, seeking an investigation into alleged corruption by former Vice President and 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that Keyamo, a former campaign spokesperson for President Bola Tinubu, had accused Atiku of using ‘Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs)’ to illicitly enrich himself during his tenure as Nigeria’s Vice President from 1999 to 2007.
The foundation of Keyamo’s case rested on an affidavit purportedly deposed by Atiku’s former media aide, Michael Achimugu, who made damning allegations against his former boss.
Keyamo sought to compel anti-corruption agencies to investigate Atiku for his alleged corrupt activities.
However, his case was ultimately dismissed by the Federal High Court in Abuja.
In response to the court’s decision, Keyamo’s lawyer, John Ainetor, issued a statement highlighting the reasons for the dismissal and expressing their intention to appeal.
“Earlier today, a Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed the case filed by Festus Keyamo, SAN, CON, against the candidate of the PDP in the last Presidential Election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, over the SPV saga principally because the court was of the opinion that the law enforcement agencies were not given enough time to commence investigations before the suit was filed, amongst other sundry reasons,” Ainetor stated.
He further added, “Our client respectfully disagrees with the reasons for the said decision because the law enforcement agencies did not indicate their willingness to commence investigations, even if they were given more time. We want to establish a legal principle that the society cannot wait indefinitely for law enforcement agencies to fulfil their statutory duties.”
Undeterred by the setback, Keyamo’s legal team has vowed to appeal the court’s ruling.
