A Former Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mr. Festus Keyamo, has stated that he’ll make an appeal on the N10 million fine that was awarded against him in a suit he filed for the probe of the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
Also, contained in the suit is the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.
Justice James Omotosho of a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja handed the fine to Keyamo on Monday.
Omotosho ordered that N5 million each be paid in favour of Abubakar and the Independent Corrupt Practises and Other Related Offences Commission.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/84/2023 was regarded as “frivolous, vexatious, and an abuse of court processes,” and should be paid at 10 per cent per annum until the cost is finally liquidated.”
A statement issued by John Ainetor (Esq), Assistant Head of Festus Keyamo Chambers, Abuja Office, read, “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.
“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 as infinitum for law-enforcement agencies to do their statutory duties.”
“The suit was designed to prompt the agencies to show their readiness to investigate. We are immediately filing an appeal against the said decision to the Court of Appeal as the struggle on this issue continues.”
Your Law Degree Is Useless
Atiku Abubakar has made mockery of the Festus Keyamo’s law degree, following the defeat.
Phrank Shaibu, Special Assistant on Public Communication to Atiku, stated this in Abuja, while asking Keyamo to throw his law degree into the dustbin as it was nothing but useless.
Recall that Keyamo had, before the 2023 general elections, written a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and other anti-graft agencies in the country to arrest and prosecute Atiku over alleged money laundering when he served as Vice President under former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
In a statement made available to newsmen on Monday, Atiku’s spokesman, Shaibu said that while Keyamo was eager “to satisfy his paymasters”, he did not wait for up to three days for the EFCC and other agencies to act on his petition but hurriedly filed a suit before the court seeking an order to mandate the agencies to act on his petition.
According to Shaibu, the judgment was clear evidence that the former minister was only playing cheap politics.
He said that “Keyamo’s incompetence has been confirmed by Justice Omotosho. One wonders how he was elevated to the rank of senior advocate. Despite several clarifications that the allegations levelled against Atiku were trumped up, Keyamo refused to listen to reason.”
Shaibu further stated that “Rather than act like a refined lawyer as expected of a senior advocate, he decided to act like a political jobber. Now, he has been disgraced before the entire world. This was a man who served under the legendary Chief Gani Fwehinmi? What a shame.”
He noted that Keyamo’s latest defeat was not surprising “given the fact that he had lost many high profile cases in court while he was an EFCC prosecutor.”
Shaibu added that “When the jobless former minister was filing the frivolous case, we informed Nigerians that he would lose. The prediction was in line with his antecedent as a failed EFCC prosecutor. Today, we have been justified.
“He was the EFCC prosecutor against Governor Timipre Sylva but he lost the case. He represented the EFCC against Femi Fani-Kayode and also lost.
“Even the case he instituted against the Lagos State House of Assembly during the Tinubu certificate scandal marked ID/639M/99, Keyamo didn’t do better. In the case of former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, in which Keyamo was the lead prosecutor, it also ended in another abysmal failure.
“Keyamo made a name for himself by constantly filing frivolous suits in order to entertain the media. He needs to throw his law certificate into the dustbin so he can face his job as a social media influencer.”
