A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt the Rivers State capital yesterday fined former First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan, N50,000 for withdrawing a suit her lawyers had filed against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The court, presided over by Justice Salisu Seidu, had faulted the prayer of Jonathan’s counsel I A. Adedipe SAN who wanted the court to stop the EFCC from infringing on her right, thereby striking out the suit and awarded cost against the First Lady.

She had instituted a suit against the EFCC in February, where she sought an order of the court for the “enforcement of her fundamental rights to own property, fair hearing, human dignity, private and family life and freedom from discrimination.”

On that very day (February 17), EFCC, through its lawyer, Kayode Oni, filed a notice of preliminary objection, challenging the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the matter, while the plaintiff ’s lawyer, Granville Abibo (SAN), faulted the objection, which he said was a delay tactic.

But when the suit came up yesterday, Seidu noted that the court cannot grant the prayers of Mrs. Jonathan, after counsel to the EFCC, Kayode Oni, had earlier faulted Jonathan on her prayers before the court.

Oni noted that her suit was “an abuse of court process,” after Sammie Somiari, who represented Jonathan, addressed the court on a notice of discontinuance of the suit, based on the instruction of the former First Lady.

Somiari told the court that an application had been filed before the court to that effect. But Oni stressed that Jonathan had a right to discontinue the case, but requested for a charge of N500,000 as costs of filing processes in response to the suit.

 Source:The Newelegraph News