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From Godwin Tsa Abuja
The House Committee on Public Petitions of the National Assembly has suspended further hearing in the police investigation report into allegations of deductions from accounts of Miden Systems Limited with the Sterling Bank Ltd following an order of a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos.
The committee adjourned it’s hearing in the matter after the Sterling Bank’s representatives informed the committee about an order of the Federal High Court in Lagos restraining all relevant agencies from investigating the bank.
However, the chairman of the committee, Mike Etaba, said the application cited by the bank was wrong as the matter was for presentation of report of the concluded police investigation which indicted the bank, as there was nothing to restrain.
“The only thing I will say is for us to exercise patient, what they are challenging are sections 88 and 89 of the constitution. Until the matters are vacated in few weeks, we’ll get back to the matter,” he said.
Other members of the committee, Matthew Nwogu and Okey Onuakalusi both condemned the attempt to restrain the work of the legislature by the judiciary, saying it is a breach of 4, 88 and 89 of the Nigerian constitution.
“When we ask them to come and testify here and they run to court, it is an admission of guilt. This House is not going to allow it,” Onuakalusi said.
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Earlier, Adegboyega Adewemo, who represented Sterling Bank, said the matter should be adjourned indefinitely based on the restraining order from court.
Opposing the application, counsel to Miden Systems Ltd, Malachy Nwaekpe Esq, said the court could not stop a completed act, adding that the court ought not to seek to stop both the National Assembly and the police from doing their work.
Miden Systems Police also contended that the ex parte injunction was an attempt to stifle it of funds to frustrate the intended purpose of the loan agreement, which was to seamlessly execute its various contracts with its client, SPDC.
The Nigeria Police Force recently forwarded a report of its investigation to the House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions during the hearing of a petition by Dr Usoro and Miden Systems.
Miden System had in May 2024 written a petition to the committee on an alleged change of interest rates, opening of spurious bank accounts in the company’s name, indiscriminate withdrawals and misappropriation of funds without recourse to a loan agreement it reached with the bank for the execution of contracts for its clients and the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Ltd among others.
Miden Systems contends before the panel that the bank “refused, failed and/or neglected” to release detailed and full bank statements of accounts and the accounts warehousing the proceeds/inflows from the contracts with SPDC domiciled in the bank from 2010 till date in line with the CBN Act and the Banks and other Financial Institutions Act (BOFA).
In their reply, the Sterling Bank Ltd accused Miden Systems and its CEO, Dr Brendan Innocent Usoro of using the police and the National Assembly to evade compliance with a binding court-ordered debt settlement.
