CHIEF Government Ekpemupolo (alias Tompolo) has prayed the Appeal Court to transfer his case from Justice Ibrahim Buba to another judge of the Federal High Court.
Tompolo based his request on the allegation that the lower court erred in law in refusing to set aside the warrant of arrest issued against him when there was no evidence establishing that he was served with the summons and the criminal charge before the court.
Justice Buba ordered the appellant’s arrest on January 14 following his failure to appear in court for trial for allegedly colluding with former director general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Mr. Patrick Akpobolokemi and others to defraud the agency of N34 billion.
Tompolo, however, filed an application asking the trial judge to set aside the arrest order on January 27.
In his ruling on February 8, the judge dismissed the application and renewed the warrant of arrest.
But in a Notice of Appeal filed on his behalf by the law firms of Tayo Oyetibo (SAN) and Mr. Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, Tompolo insisted that the trial judge, should have ascertained that the respondent, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), complied with the order of the court for substituted service by posting the charge at the correct address contained in the order of the court.
Tompolo also said EFCC’s application upon which the order for his arrest was predicated was incompetent as the lawyer who signed it failed to affix his seal as required by law.
He urged the Court of Appeal to set aside the warrant for his arrest and nullify all subsequent proceedings relating to the charge.
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