Court summons Ogun Assembly over ex-OPIC MD’s N10bn suit

A Federal High Court in Lagos has summoned the Ogun State House of Assembly (OGHA) to appear in a N10 billion fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by a former Managing Director of Ogun State Property Investment Corporation (OPIC), Jide Odusolu.

The summons by Justice Peter Lifu was for the Assembly to show cause within 72 hours why it should not be restrained from proceeding with its probe of Odusolu’s tenure.

The Assembly had at plenary on September 21, 2021, adopted the report of its Committee on Anti-Corruption and Public Accounts, which upon investigation of OPIC’s finances claimed that huge sums of money were missing from its accounts.

Dissatisfied with the Assembly’s resolve to adopt the report, Odusolu filed a suit to enforce his fundamental rights claiming the sum of N10 billion as damages.

The Inspector-General of Police, Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 2, Commissioner of Police in Ogun State and the Ogun State House of Assembly were joined as co-respondents in the suit.

In a 40-paragraph affidavit deposed to by Odusolu, he traced the series of projects executed by OPIC, insisting that the accounts of OPIC have been audited by professionals and no fund is missing.

In the suit, Odusolu is seeking a court’s declaration that the proceedings of OGHA and the report of the Committee which it purportedly adopted constitute an infringement on his fundamental right to fair hearing.

He also wants the court to declare that the Assembly lacks the competence to investigate the alleged crime.

Odusolu claimed that the Chairman of the Committee that purportedly investigated OPIC funds was himself an interested party who served together with him while in office and that he even inspected some OPIC projects which he now claims have not been executed.

Besides, Odusolu is also seeking an injunction restraining the Assembly from deploying the report to initiate any criminal complaint against him before the police.

He wants the court to restrain the police from acting on the said report pending the hearing and final determination of the suit pending in court.

Further hearing in the matter has been fixed for November 1.