FCT police withdraw appeal against Nigerian lawmaker over dual citizenship 

The Federal Capital Territory Police command has withdrawn an appeal against a member of the House of Representatives, Victor Mela (Gombe-APC), who was convicted by a magistrate court.

A Chief Magistrates’ Court in Zone 6, Wuse, Abuja, had last year convicted Mr Mela for lying on oath in his Form CF001 submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as a candidate in the 2019 general elections.

He swore to an affidavit thrice, denying citizenship of another country whereas he had a Canadian passport.

Consequently, he was sentenced to one month imprisonment with an option of a fine.

Not satisfied with the judgement, the lawmaker appealed at an FCT high court, challenging the verdict of the magistrate. He won in the higher court.

After losing at the high court, the police filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal, challenging the decision of the high court.

Withdrawal

In a letter addressed to the Deputy Chief Registrar of the FCT high court, appeal section, the police said they wished to discontinue the case without stating any reason.

The letter which was sighted by our reporter was titled “NOTICE OF DISCONTINUANCE IN THE CASE OF COMMISSIONER OF POLICE VS VICTOR MELA IN SUIT NO:CR/66/19 filed on 29/06/20213  was co-signed by the two lawyers representing the police in the case.

“I hereby wish to discontinue the above appeal pending before this court.

“We equally regret any inconvenience this might cause this honorable court and the defendant in this appeal, for same was brought in good faith and not to overreach the defendant,” the letter reads.

No Comment

When contacted for comments on the matter, the police spokesperson for the FCT, Mariam Yusuf, declined comments.

She ended the telephone conversation when the matter was brought and did not respond to messages afterwards.

One of the lawyers representing the police, Fidelis Ogbobe, declined comments on the matter, he directed the reporter to the FCT command.

The convicted lawmaker was also not available for comments as he neither picked his calls nor responded to text messages.

However, the nominal complainant, Ali Isa, confirmed the development when contacted via telephone.

He said he also got to hear of the withdrawal a few days ago.