Justice Ngwuta’s lead prosecutor was sacked because of professional misconduct-FG

Contrary to impressions given by Charles Adeogun-Philips, the lead prosecutor in the suit against Supreme Court judge, Justice Sylvester Ngwuta suggesting that he withdrew from the case on his own volition, the National Prosecution Coordination Committee (NPCC), has insisted that he was sacked.

The NPCC which engaged his services, has said that it actually withdrew the fiat issued to him to prosecute the case over non disclosure of conflict of interest and for other sundry reasons.

Adeogun-Philips had reportedly left in protest, due to last week Tuesday’s dropping of charges earlier instituted against the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, Ahmed Saleh, Muhammad Sharif and Rilwanu Lawal which he is also handling for the FG.

Salihu Isah, Head of Communication and Public Affairs NPCC, revealed that Adeogun-Philips’ sack was conveyed to him vide a letter titled, ‘Withdrawal of your name as a member of Team 16 of the National Prosecution Team handling charges No. FHC/ABJ/C/232/16-FRN vs Sylvester N. Ngwuta’ dated February 6, 2016 and signed by Sylvester Imhanobe, Esq, Special Assistant to the President on Research and Special Projects who also doubles as Secretary of the Committee.

Adeogun-Philips had acknowledged receipt of the letter through an email message dated February 8, 2017 he sent to the Committee secretary and copied to Muhamme Etsu, the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF).

Isah, the spokesman of the HAGF and the NPCC therefore insisted that, “Adeogun-Philips was indeed fired because he wanted to be greedy by thinking that he could handle briefs from conflicting interests and when the NPCC uncovered this unprofessional conduct, he was asked to leave. That’s all. ”

The AGF spokesman affirmed that, besides the issues of non disclosure of conflict of interest, information at the disposal of the Committee indicated that Charles Adeogun-Philips has been exhibiting traits that are inimical and counter-productive to the interest of the National Prosecution Coordination Committee (NPCC) that engaged him. The report detailed how he visited a top security official at the Presidency to discuss his welfare issues using his engagement by the Committee as instrument.

As it presently stands, the Committee plan to carry out a critical surgery on the present composition of the entire prosecution team to weed out those with question marks around them, because they had been informed before hands that anyone found wanting would be eased out since it is a continuous process.

Meanwhile, the other members of Team 16 of the NPCC comprising Hajara Yusuf,M. Lawal Yusufari and Ibrahim Waru remains intact as only its leader is affected in the current debriefing. They will carry on with the case pending when a replacement is engaged to lead the team. In the meantime, Hajara Yusuf, a Principal State Counsel in the DPPF’s office l

“So, it is wicked and childish for anyone to allude undue colouration to an action taken in national interest and reduce it to a North/South thing with a view to confuse the discerning public. This is not the first time such process will be entered into in law, especially so as the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 allows plea bargaining in line with national interest.

“It has now clearly shown now that, either corruption is fighting back or simply that some people want to be mischievous and to hoodwink and divert the estimation of Nigerians from the core issues at stake. None of them is talking of the unprofessional conduct of Charles Adeosun-Philips who is handling a brief in an ongoing suit at the Federal High Court in Lagos against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which amounts to conflict of interest which he failed to disclose when being engaged.

“The suit in question involves First Bank Executive Director, Public Sector Accounts, Dauda Lawal who is alleged to have laundered the sum of $40m into Sterling Bank on behalf of former Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke as part of the $153, 310, 000.00 she is alleged to have siphoned from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)”, the statement reads in part.

NPCC, chaired by the AGF, Abubakar Malami SAN and inaugurated by Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo is charged with assisting the Attorney General of the Federation in the exercise of his prosecutorial powers under Section 150 and 174(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; especially as it involves high profile criminal cases.