A former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, has asked a federal high court in Abuja to set aside the bench warrant issued for her arrest in an alleged fraud case filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Recall that in April, a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) high court in Apo, Abuja, issued an arrest warrant against the former minister.
The presiding judge, Jude Onwuegbuzie, also granted an order of arrest against a permanent secretary in the ministry, Bashir Nura Alkali.
The order was granted following an application by the EFCC after the defendants failed to appear in court for their scheduled arraignment on Thursday.
At the resumed proceedings on Monday, Sadiya Farouq was absent from court, while Alkali and Sani Mohammed, the second and third defendants, were present.
The defendants are facing a 21-count charge bordering on alleged misappropriation of public funds.
A counsel to the EFCC, Oluwaleke Atolagbe, informed the court that the first defendant was absent.
A counsel to Farouq, Oladipo Okpeseyi, said his client was absent because of health challenges and prayed the court to hear an application seeking to set aside the arrest warrant issued against her.
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However, Atolagbe opposed the request, arguing that the application could not be entertained before the defendant was arraigned.
According to the EFCC lawyer, court records indicated that the application was premature since the arraignment had not taken place.
Okpeseyi disagreed, contending that the motion was a preliminary application in a criminal matter and was ripe for hearing.
“I object to the submission of the prosecution, saying the application cannot be heard until after arraignment,” he said.
He argued that refusing to hear the application would amount to treating it as abandoned.
The presiding judge, Jude Onwuegbuzie, asked the former minister’s when his client would be available to appear before the court.
Responding, Okpeseyi said communication with the former minister had been difficult because of a 10-day holiday period in Egypt.
He added that “we are not the medical doctors to give the conditions of her health”.
The judge said it is important to know the status of the first defendant in order to know how to act and subsequently allowed the application to be argued.
In his submissions, Okpeseyi urged the court to set aside the warrant of arrest issued against his client on April 16.
In opposition, Atolagbe asked the court to dismiss the application.
The EFCC counsel also urged the court to disregard the medical reports tendered by Farouq, arguing that they lacked credibility.
After hearing both parties, Onwuegbuzie adjourned the matter until June 10 for ruling on the application.
The court had on April 16 granted the EFCC leave to arraign Farouq alongside Alkali and Mohammed over allegations involving about $1.3 million and N746.6 million.
A bench warrant was issued against the former minister after she failed to appear in court.
At the last sitting, her lawyer told the court that she was in Egypt receiving medical treatment and was medically unfit to attend proceedings.
