Appeal Court, Abuja Division, on Wednesday, nullified the conviction and seven years jail term imposed on a former National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Olisa Metuh, after finding him guilty of money laundering charges.
Justice Stephen Adah’s three-man panel, in a unanimous judgment, held that the proceedings of the Federal High Court leading to the conviction of Metuh and his company, Destra Investment Limited, were biased and therefore must not be allowed to stand.
Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Adah held that the utterances of the trial judge, Justice Okon Abang, in the course of the trial, showed his bias against Metuh and the others convicted along with him.
The judge, therefore, ordered that trial be conducted afresh and directed that the case file be sent back to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for reassignment to another judge other than Justice Abang.
In his February 25, 2020, judgment, Justice Abang had sentenced Metuh to seven years’ imprisonment for fraudulently receiving N400m from the Office of the former National Security Adviser, Col Sambo Dasuki (rtd).