Bail request: Dokpesi knows fate Monday

ABUJA— The Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, yesterday, adjourned till Monday to consider whether or not the  former Chairman of DAAR Communications Plc, High Chief Raymond Dokpesi, should be released on bail.

Raymond Dokpesi

Dokpesi, who is answering to a six-count charge preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is praying the court to grant him bail on self recognition or on most liberal terms.

Moving application for his bail, yesterday, Dokpesi’s lawyer, Mr. Mike Ozekhome, SAN, placed reliance on provisions of sections 31, 167 and 168 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, as well as the decided case-law in Abiola vs FRN, to insist that allegations levelled against  his client were not such that he could not be released from detention.

He told the court that Dokpesi was scheduled for medical treatment in the United Kingdom before he was arrested by the EFCC on December 1.

Ozekhome tendered into evidence, an  appointment letter dated November 30, which was given to Dokpesi by his doctor in the UK.

Aside the letter which showed that Dokpesi was originally scheduled to undergo medical examination at the London hospital on December 4,  Ozehkome equally tendered a British Airways reservation ticket showing that his client would have departed Nigeria a day before his arraignment.

Ozekhome told the court that  EFCC had on December 3, granted Dokpesi administrative bail, only for it to be cancelled after the accused person had perfected all the conditions that were given to him.

“This is a proper case for my lord to exercise discretion in favour of the applicant to enable him to go and treat himself because if he  dies the prosecution will have no one to try.

“Who will go and try Audu Abubakar now? But his case is there!  Can they go and exhume his body from his village in Ogbonicha for prosecution?”, Ozekhome queried.

Meantime, the EFCC, yesterday, vehemently opposed Dokpesi’s application for bail.

The agency, via a counter-affidavit filed by its lawyer, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, told the court that Dokpesi was being investigated over a fresh allegation involving illegal diversion of public funds.

Jacobs told the court that the anti-graft is probing Dokpesi over about N8.4billion he collected from the Federal Government when Nigeria hosted Under-17 World Cup in 2012.

He alleged that though it was the world football body, FIFA, that awarded viewing right for the under-age tournament, he said that Dokpesi went ahead and collected “billions of Naira from the Nigerian government.”

“My lord, there are still other issues, we believe that if granted bail, the accused person has the capacity to scuttle ongoing investigation into the matter,” Jacobs submitted.

After listening to both parties, trial Justice Gabriel Kolawole said he would need time to go through all the processes so as to decide whether or not he will accede  to the bail application.

While adjourning ruling till Monday, Justice Kolawole ordered that Dokpesi should remain in the custody of the EFCC until his application is determined.

Bail request: Dokpesi knows fate Monday

Fielding Jonathan, a mistake – Raymond Dokpesi

The Peoples Democratic Party has asked Nigerians to forgive the party for its inability to meet their yearnings in the past 16 years.

Raymond Dokpesi

The party said it was aware that Nigerians were angry with it because of some actions it took in the past 16 years when it was in power.

It said the party was ready to mend fences and this was why it was organising a national conference where all issues affecting the former ruling party would be discussed.

Chairman, National Planning Committee of the conference, Dr. Raymond Dokpesi, said this at a news conference in Abuja on Tuesday.

Dokpesi, a chieftain of the party from Edo State, was flanked at the briefing by members of the planning committee for the conference.

The defeat of the party in the last general election came to its leaders as a surprise.

Apart from losing the presidency to the All Progressives Congress, the PDP also lost in some states where it was hitherto popular.

Dokpesi attributed the defeat to many errors committed by the party and its leadership, but asked Nigerians to forgive and forget.

He said, “We are aware that there were errors we made. We admit that we made mistakes and we have not met the expectation of Nigerians and we tender unreserved apologies for these mistakes.

“You must have seen the Ike Ekweremadu report on why we are apologising. There was no internal democracy, there was impunity within the party and there was no level-playing ground for members of the party.

“Zoning principles of the party were abandoned and a gamut of all other issues, which will come out during the conference and for all these and the people who have been offended, for people whose toes were stepped upon, we also tender unreserved apology.

“These are the reasons why we are begging and apologising. We want to assure every founding member of the party that we deviated from their visions, and that’s why we are going to have all our founding fathers like Adamu Ciroma, Dr. Alex Ekwueme and other members of the G.34, to come and talk to us at the conference.

“For every and any mistake we have made, I therefore say, we tender our unreserved apologies.”

Asked if the mistake of the party included the fielding of the former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, as its presidential candidate in 2011 and 2015, he said it was wrong for the party to have abandoned zoning in preference for the former President.

Dokpesi said the party ought to have allowed the northern part of the country to complete its term when former President Umaru Yar’Adua died in 2010.

He said, “The party in 2010 and 2011, made the first round of mistake of not allowing the north to complete its term.

“That was when the party gave a special favour for the then President who came to compete the term of Yar’Adua to be allowed one term to finish.

“The same small leaders of the party came forward in 2015 to state again and refused to return the party to allow the north to field the party’s presidential candidate, they manipulated the party to do the same.”

He added that, “Make no mistake, the PDP is aware that there were errors made along the way. We admit that at certain times in our past, mistakes have been made, we did not meet the expectations of Nigerians.

“But the past is exactly what it is. While we should not forget the past and its errors, We must look forward and begin to show true leadership within and outside our party.”

He said the forthcoming conference would be used to reinvigorate, re-engineer and restructure the party, which he said would be handed over to the youth.

Fielding Jonathan, a mistake – Raymond Dokpesi