A former spokesman  for the Peoples Democratic Party, Olisa Metuh, has dropped   the  two Senior Advocates of Nigeria leading his defence in his N400m money laundering case before the Federal High Court in Abuja, hiring   another lawyer, Mr Abel Ozioko,  to take over from them.

Ozioko appeared in the case for the first time on Wednesday.

Metuh’s decision to stop Dr Onyechi Ikpeazu and Mr Emeka Etiaba  came barely 24 hours after they  filed an application for withdrawal as the defendant’s counsel.

Justice Okon Abang  on March 5, 2019 fixed  March 13,  2019  for the hearing of the SANs’ application.

But before the scheduled hearing, Metuh stopped them.

Ikpeazu and  Etiaba  had  led  his defence since January 2016 when the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission preferred the charges against him.

Metuh and his firm, Destra Investment Limited, are being prosecuted by the EFCC on money laundering charges involving allegations that they both fraudulently took the sum N400m from the Office of the National Security Adviser “when they reasonably ought to know” that the money was part of the proceeds of alleged criminal act of then NSA, Sambo Dasuki”.

Metuh  was also accused of transacting with a cash of $2m without going through a financial institution in violation of a provision of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act.

At  Wednesday’s proceedings, Ikpeazu informed the judge that his application seeking an order permitting him and his law firm to withdraw from the case had been overtaken by event following Metuh’s letter  stopping  his law firm.

Ikpeazu then sought to withdraw the application.

Lawyer for  Destra Investments Limited, the second defendant in the case, Mr Tochukwu Onwugbufor (SAN), opposed Ikpeazu’s request to withdraw his application on the grounds that the move was not in compliance with the relevant provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.

EFCC’s lawyer, Mr Sylvanus Tahir, too agreed with Onwugbufor, adding that he had already filed a counter-affidavit to oppose the application being sought to be withdrawn and that the hearing needed to go on to enable him to “set the record straight” contrary to the facts as stated by Ikpeazu.

Justice Abang  sought to know  Metuh’s “legal strategy” of “hurriedly” disengaging the  SANs barely 24 hours after they applied to withdraw from the case.

The judge however said he lacked the power to question Metuh’s decision to change his counsel

The judge then made an order discharging Ikpeazu and his law from the case.

Ozioko informed the judge that he was only briefed by his client  on Tuesday and  needed some time to study the case.

He then applied that the case be adjourned for two weeks.

The application for adjournment was not opposed to by Onwugbufor (second defenant’s counsel) and Tahir (prosecuting counsel).

Granting the application for adjournment, the judge adjourned the matter till March 27.

He said the proceedings would hold daily as from the next hearing date.

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