Forgery: Court Stops Police from Arresting Justice Odili’s Ex-Aide

The Federal Capital Territory High Court in Bwari, on Tuesday, declined a request by the police to issue a bench warrant for the arrest of an official of the Supreme Court, Mrs Ogunseye Adebiyi.

The police claimed that Adebiyi forged a judgment of the apex court in the leadership crisis rocking the All Progressives Grand Alliance.

Adebiyi was named as a defendant in the amended charge pressed against Chief Edozie Njoku, who was said to have been reinstated as the authentic National Chairman of APGA by a judgment of the Supreme Court, but had yet to be accorded recognition.

The police authorities through Chief Superintendent of Police, Ezekiel Rimansomte, in 2022 arraigned Njoku.

When the case came up for hearing on Tuesday, Rimansomte told the court that apart from Njoku and the party’s National Youth Secretary, Chuks Nwoga, who were standing trial as the first and second defendants, the police had  filed an application for the amendment to the charge to include Adebiyi as the third defendant, as well as to list retired Supreme Court Justice Mary Odili as a witness in the matter.

Rimansomte said, “We went through the file and saw that Mrs Ogunseye Adebisi was the personal assistant to retired Supreme Court Justice, Mary Odili.

“She confessed in writing that yes, because of the application the accused person made to Justice Odili, the Justice asked her to alter the judgment of October 2021 to reflect the name of the first defendant.

“The first and second defendants have been duly charged.”

The prosecution counsel said though  the court bailiff assured him that Adebiyi would be in court, he didn’t know why she was not in court.

The police counsel thereafter requested for bench warrant for the arrest of Adebiyi.

But ruling on the oral application, Justice Madugu described the application as amazing and ridiculous and rejected it.

The matter was later adjourned till March 13, 2023 for continuation of hearing.