Court adjourns ruling on SEC’s preliminary objection against Gwarzo

The National Industrial Court of Nigeria sitting in Abuja on Thursday adjourned hearing of the preliminary objection filed by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in the suit instituted against it by its suspended Director General, Mounir Gwarzo.
The case was shifted to October 24.

The claimant (Gwarzo) is seeking a declaration that his appointment as D-G of SEC is valid, legal and subsisting, and a declaration that the Administrative Panel of Inquiry set up by the Minister of Finance was biased, partial and against the principle of natural justice.

The suspended D-G is also seeking an order of the court to set aside the report of the Administrative Panel of Inquiry that indicted him.

The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, had suspended Gwarzo over alleged financial misappropriation charges levelled against him in November, 2017.

Thereafter, Adeosun set up an Administrative Panel of Inquiry to investigate and determine the culpability of the Director-General.

It was alleged that Adeosun unearthed a previous petition against Gwarzo and suspended him as SEC boss because he demanded to be served in writing with her order to stop SEC’s forensic audit of Oando Plc.

But, Gwarzo in his reaction, described media reports on his refusal to stop the forensic audit as “misleading and mischievous,” noting that the insinuation of an instruction to discontinue with the Oando case is not true.

In June, Gwarzo was arraigned alongside Zakawanu Garuba, an Executive Commissioner in the commission, by Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for alleged acts of corruption involving mismanagement of over N115 million.

The ICPC accused Gwarzo of fraudulently enriching himself by receiving a sum of N104.85 million as severance benefit while he was yet to resign or retire from service and also the sum of N10.98 million in excess of car grant in June 2015.

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On the hand, ICPC accused Garuba for colluding with the SEC boss by approving the payments.

At today’s proceedings, the judge, Justice Sanusi Kado, adjourned the suit after listening to submissions of the counsel and ordered that hearing notice be served on the Attorney-General of the Federation who has no legal presentation in court.

The claimant’s counsel, Adetayo Adeyemi, told the court that all the defendants had been served with originating processes, while SEC’S counsel, Chris Uche (SAN), said he had filed memorandum of conditional appearance and served the claimant’s counsel with preliminary objection.

Counsel to the Minister of Finance, Chinedu Achumie, and Adeyemi both acknowledged that SEC’s counsel had served them with preliminary objection, but they were yet to reply as they were served on Wednesday.

By Oluwasegun Olakoyenikan

 

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