The founder and chairman of Innoson Nigeria Limited,
Innocent Chukwuma has reacted to the arrest warrant issued by the Federal High
Court yesterday. The court had granted the request of a Director in the
Ministry of Justice to arrest Chukwuma and two others, in order to arraign him
in court to face criminal charges.
Chukwuma in a series of tweets on his company’s Twitter
account, @innosonvehicles, stated that Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) was behind
the arrest warrant issued, stating that the issuance of bench warrant against
him is an abuse of process taken too far.
Nairametrics had reported that Justice Ayokunle Faji granted
the request made by the prosecutor, Mr Julius Ajakaiye to arrest Chukwuma,
Charles Chukwu, and Anajekwu Sunny over their refusal to present themselves in
court for a case bordering on conspiracy, forgery, and fraud to the tune of
N2.4 billion filed by the IGP through the Federal Ministry of Justice sometime
in December 2015.
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The three, alongside Innoson Nigeria Limited and a shipping
company, Mitsui Osk, were charged before the court, but only Mitsui Osk was
represented in court. So Ajakaiye informed the court that the warrant of arrest
was in pursuant with sections 113, 114 and 395 of Administration of Criminal
Justice Act (ACJA) 2015.
Chukwuma refuted the charges in a press release sent to
Nairametrics. He explained that there is no prima facie case against him.
According to Chukwuma, the charge was based on suspected action of Innoson
Nigeria Limited, and Innoson Nigeria Limited was a party originally to the
charge but was discharged by the Court of Appeal. Recall that Nairametrics
reported that the Appeal Court discharged Innoson Motors.
The issuance of bench warrant against me by the Federal High
Court Ikoyi Lagos, today, June 24th 2019 is an abuse of process taken too far
by the Court and made without jurisdiction. The order itself is a nullity and
does not have grounds on law.
Firstly, there is no prima facie case against me. The charge
was based on suspected or trumped up action of Innoson Nigeria Ltd and Innoson
Nigeria Ltd was a party originally to the charge but was discharged by the
Court of Appeal.
No grounds for arrest warrant: The Innoson boss said that
there was no notice of trial served on him in pursuant to the Administration of
Criminal Justice Act.
He disclosed that a case is pending in the Supreme Court to
determine whether he was served with the charge, adding that the charge is also
an abuse because of a similar suit in relation to the charge pending at
different Federal High Courts.
But this is not the first time an arrest warrant will be
issued against Chukwuma. Justice Mojisola Dada of the special offences court in
Lagos had done same in 2018. He had also been arrested by Nigeria’s anti-graft
agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in 2017, an incident
many believed was in connection to Innoson Motor’s ongoing case with GTBank.
The bank, however, issued a statement denying their involvement in the
development.
Note that the act provides that before the court should
issue a bench warrant, there must be proof of service of the charge and the
notice of trial on the person involved.
Secondly, there was no notice of trial served on me pursuant
to the Administration of Criminal Justice Act. The act provides that before the
court should issue a bench warrant, there must be proof of service of the
charge and the notice of trial on the person involved.
But there is no notice of trial served on me and the
question of whether I, Innocent Chukwuma has been served with the charge is
still pending at the Supreme Court. More importantly, the charge is also an
abuse because of earlier similar suit in relation to the charge pending at
Police dropped charge against him: Chukwuma further stated
that the basis of the arrest warrant was no longer valid as the Police had
withdrawn the 2015 charge (CHARGE NO: FHC/L/565/2015) filed against him on
February 17, 2016. The withdrawal was filed at the Federal High Court Registry
in Lagos.
But there is no notice of trial served on me and the
question of whether I, Innocent Chukwuma has been served with the charge is
still pending at the Supreme Court. More importantly, the charge is also an
abuse because of earlier similar suit in relation to the charge pending at
Thirdly, The said CHARGE NO: FHC/L/565/2015 which is a
trumped up was filed by the police in 2015 and was equally withdrawn by the
same police through its notice of withdrawal dated 17th February, 2016 duly
filed at the
According to Chukwuma, GTB compelled an unnamed Director of
Public Prosecution (DPP) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to claim to have
taken over the Charge/case using the name of the Attorney General of the
Federation after the Police had withdrawn the case.
The DPP was eventually dismissed from his position due to
his involvement in this matter and his complicities, Chukwuma alleged in the
statement.
GTB characteristically got the then Director of Public
Prosecution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (names withheld) to claim to
have taken over the Charge/case using the name of the Attorney General of the
Federation.
This is after the Police have withdrawn the case.
Interestingly, that DPP involvement in this matter and his
complicities therein led to his removal as the Director of Public Prosecution
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Why GTBank is pulling the strings according to Chukwuma is
to compel the Innoson Motors chairman to negotiate from a ‘weaker position’ in
a case involving Innoson Motors and GTBank.
The argument on whether the Office of the Attorney General
is empowered to take over a case that the Police have originally withdrawn is
still going on at the Supreme Court.
The public should be aware that this latest order is being
orchestrated by Guaranty Trust Bank in order to force me negotiate with the
bank from a weaker position.
It will be recalled that in a decision of 27th February 2019
in Appeal No:SC.694/2014 between
What transpired between GTB and Innoson: The company claims
that GTBank lost a Supreme Court appeal for it to rescind the lower court’s
decision for it to pay back Innoson N2.4 billion plus interest at 22% per annum
in “illegal charges” against the car maker.
According to Innoson, the Judgment debt of N2.4 billion has
an accrued interest of about N6,717,909,849.96 as of 2019, which results in
about N8.8 Billion, but as of 2014, it was N6 billion.
In the statement, the company urged GTBank to comply with
the Supreme Court judgment and pay the over N9 billion judgment debt within the
unstated time-frame given to the bank or Innoson will execute the Writ of Fifa
against GTBank.
What is a Writ of Fifa: This is a court document used by the
successful plaintiff to enforce the judgment of a court by taking a lien on a
property of the defendant that it believes is worth more than the amount being
owed.
I therefore advice the bank for the benefit of its
shareholders to quickly comply with the Supreme Court judgment and pay the over
N9billion judgment debt. Failure to do so within the short period of grace that
Innoson Nigeria Ltd granted to the bank will lead to the final
Meanwhile, I have appealed against the Order of Bench
Warrant to the Court of Appeal and have as well filled a Motion for Stay of
Execution of the Order.
Meanwhile, he disclosed that he has filed a suit to appeal
against the Order of Bench Warrant to the Court of Appeal and have as well
filled a Motion for Stay of Execution of the Order.
GTBank is yet to respond to the accusation of perpetrating
the arrest warrant of Chukwuma.
