A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed the application brought by one Mr. Olalekan Bayode seeking to be admitted as a party in the $15 million Ibori bribe forfeiture matter.
A Lagos based refrigerator repairer, Olalekan Bayode, had earlier in the week, applied to the Federal High Court to appoint him as a manager of the disputed $15m (N2.6billion) alleged bribe money and to also make him an intervener in the dispute on the ownership of the money.
Presiding Judge Justice Gabriel Kolawole while striking out the application noted that it was completely at variance with the interim order of court inviting interested parties to show because the money should not be forfeited to the Federal Government.
According to Justice Kolawole “when I read the affidavit, I asked myself whether they really heard of the opportunity given through the publication of the interim order. While I readily overlook the misconduct of the applicant, I cannot understand the conduct his counsel.”
He added that right of access to court must be made judiciously and not frivolously.
With the dismissal of the application, the coast is clear for the court to consider the case regarding ownership of the money.
The case had been adjourned to December 11, 2012 for definite hearing.
Justice Kolawole had on July 24, 2012 granted an interim order of forfeiture of an unclaimed $15m Ibori bribe to the federal government following an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
