Mobitel CEO tells EFCC: We’ll meet in court
By REMMY NWEKE
The released chief executive officer (CEO) and
president of Mobitel Nigeria Limited, Mr. Johnson Salako, has
reiterated his resolve to drag the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) to court over his unlawful arrest and subsequent
detention.
Sunday Champion recalls that the Federal High
Court at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, last Friday
ordered the immediate release of Mobitel’s Chief Executive Officer,
Mr. Johnson Salako, by EFCC.
The court order came following the EFCC’s
unlawful arrest and detention of Mr. Salako on Thursday June 25,
2009 until last Friday, July 3.
Salako’s release was premised on the suit by
Mobitel Nigeria for unlawful arrest and detention, just as the suit
sought for his immediate release and restrained EFCC thereof from
harassment, arrest or detention or any intent thereof of Mobitel’s
chairman, Mr. Akinsanya, pending the hearing and determination of
the substantive suit.
Affirming the readiness of the Mobitel to drag
EFCC to court, the Chief Commercial Officer of the telco, Mr. Okon
Inyanam disclosed that Mr. Salako should not have been arrested in
the first instance and applauded the decision by the Abuja High
Court, declaring that it’s a victory for the rule of law and due
process.
"Subsequently, it is Salako’s desire to sue the
EFCC for infringing upon his personal liberty as a citizen by
unlawfully detaining him without trial for offences," he said,
stressing that procedure has been advanced to take EFCC to court
over the illegal arrest and detention before now.
Inyanam lamented a situation whereby an agency of
government begins to arrest innocent citizens and detain them for
lengthy period without any basis in law and that such development
portends grave danger for Nigeria.
"EFCC cannot be above the law. Mr. Salako’s
release at the instance of the High Court in Abuja must be
celebrated as a clear judicial statement against arbitrariness and
impunity," he said.
Recalling that the events were the outcome of the
recent tussle between the Minister of Information and Communications
and industry regulator, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on
the issue of the recent bid rounds for the 2.3 GHZ spectrum license
and the subsequent involvement of the EFCC.
Industry observers have described the detention
of Salako and his team at Mobitel as part of the resultant
power-play, which sends bad signals to other credible local and
foreign investors who may be interested in Nigeria’s fast-growing
telecommunications industry, even as they urged President Umaru
Yar’adua to intervene to avoid sending the wrong signals to the
international community.
Mr. Salako was further confirmed to have been
receiving medical attention. after being denied access to his doctor
during the period of his unlawful incarceration.
Equally, the detention of Mr Salako by the EFCC
was based on allegations that NCC took the wrong step in granting
the former management of Mobitel a waiver over its outstanding
fiduciary responsibilities to the Federal Government.
Whereas EFCC was said to have acted in disregard
of a recent NCC’s submission to the Mrs Farida Waziri-led agency,
which stated that after due reconciliation of Mobitel’s case files
"it became apparent that the company (Mobitel) had been over-billed
and had already over paid its debts."