Ise-Oluwa Ige and Ikechukwu Nnochiri
14 January 2009
An Abuja Chief Magistrate Court sitting at Zone 2 yesterday fixed January 20, this year for ruling on a request by the Leadership Newspaper Publisher Mr. Sam Nda Isaiah alongside four others to strike out a five-count criminal charge preferred against them by the police for allegedly embarrassing President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua through an alleged defamatory publication.
Mr Ndah and four members of staff had invited the court to terminate their trial on the account that President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua who dragged them to court is covered by section 308 of the 1999 constitution and therefore could not institute any criminal action in his official capacity against anybody as he is presently doing in this case.
Although President Yar'Adua begged the court to discountenance the arguments by Mr Ndah and substitute his name as it appeared on the First Information Report (FIR) with the name of the Inspector-General of Police, the trial magistrate court however asked for one week to reflect on the arguments and deliver a well considered ruling on the issue.
President Yar'Adua and the police were represented by the Federal Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Mr Salihu Aliyu in the case yesterday while Mr Bassey Ebenezer represented the five journalists who are under trial.
Besides the Publisher, Mr Ndah, other members of staff of the media organisation seeking the termination of their criminal trial over the same offence were the Weekend Editor of the Leadership Newspaper, Mrs Lara Olubunmi, the Associate Editor of the paper, Simon Imobo Swam who incidentally wrote the story being complained of, the Leadership Newspapers itself and its Daily Editor, Abdulrazaq Barikindu Bello.
Last Monday, the accused persons, had, through their counsel, Mr. Bassey Ebenezer, implored the court to strike out the case on the grounds that not only did President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua violate section 36 of the constitution through the First Information Report (FIR)earlier released by the police, but that he also lacked the locus standi by virtue of the provisions of section 308 of the constitution, to sue in his personal capacity in any court of law in Nigeria.
But the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Mr. Saliyu Aliyu pleaded with the court to disregard the preliminary objection.
The DPP said that the president did not go to court in his official capacity but as an ordinary citizen who is seeking redress for a wrong done him.
He however prayed the court to substitute the name of President Yar'Adua in the case with that of the Inspector-General of police, maintaining that the President has an immunity not to appear before any court of law in Nigeria .
However, before the DPP could finish with his submissions, the defence counsel was already on his feet, opposing him vehemently.
Mr Ebenezer insisted that defamation of character is a personal injury and that it is only the person defamed that can seek redress in court.
According to him, "in the FIR, it is evident that the president was the complainant and not the IG"
"And if the DPP is insisting that President Yar'Adua sued as an ordinary citizen, then my lord it also means that we have the right to put him in the dock for cross examination, but my lord we cannot do that"
"Moreover it is evident that there is a fundamental flaw in this case, because if the president cannot be sued, then he should not sue as well" Mr. Ebenezer added.
He asked the court to throw the submissions of the DPP into the dustbin, and strike out the case in its totality.
It would be recalled that the Police had arraigned all of them in December last year for allegedly publishing a false report about the health status of Mr President.
According to the charge preferred against them, they were accused to have published the piece in order to embarrass the president both locally and internationally.
But they were all allowed home in the sum of N500,000 each after the pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Perhaps because of the personalities involved, the police invited the Federal Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Mr Salihu Aliyu to prosecute the journalists.
Aliyu does not come to court always except in high profile cases like the instant one.
In the First Information Report (FIR) filed by the police against the quintet of Nda Isaiah, Bello, Lara, Swam and Leadership Newspapers, they were, in plain language, accused of defaming the character of President Yar'Adua, published injurious falsehood against him, printing or and engraving matter known to be defamatory and sale of printed or engraved substance containing defamatory matter about him.
Their conducts were said to be contrary to sections 79, 392, 393, 394 and 395 of the Penal Code Law, Cap 532 Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria , 1990.
But all the accused persons took turn to enter a plea of not guilty to each of the allegations contained in the FIR.
The details of the offence, according to the prosecution, was the meat of a raw formal complaint personally made by Alhaji Musa Yar'Adua to the Abuja Chief Magistrate Court against all the accused persons and upon which the court ordered the police to investigate.
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