Following the witness summon issued
against him by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, ex-President Goodluck Jonathan
who is scheduled to appear today as a defence witness in the trial of
former spokesman of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Olisa Metuh,
in an application filed yesterday by his lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, wants the court
to void the subpoena issued on him.
However ex-President Jonathan gave a
condition with the provisions of Section 241(2) of the Administration of
Criminal Justice Act, 2015 for him to appear before the court.
He asked the court to
direct Metuh to deposit with the court, for and on his (Jonathan’s)
behalf, N1 billion to cover travelling expenses for himself and his security
personnel from his home town Otuoke in Bayelsa State, to Abuja and also for
time that he might spend appearing before the court as President of Nigeria
between 2010 to 2015.
According to his lead counsel
Ozekhome, the evidence sought to be obtained from the applicant will amount to
an invasion of his personal right to privacy, and family life as provided for
in Section 37 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as
Metuh was not a personal aid or appointee of the applicant herein and so
could not have dealt with the President directly under any circumstance
to warrant the invitation of the applicant to testify in the charge.
Post a Comment