The Federal High Court in Abuja has set aside the conviction and seven years jail term imposed on a former spokesperson for the Peoples Democratic Party, Olisa Metuh, after finding him guilty of money laundering charges.
A three-person panel led by Justice Stephen Adah in a unanimous judgment, delivered on Wednesday, held that the proceedings of the Federal High Court leading to the conviction of Metuh and his company, Destra Investment Limited, were tainted with bias, and therefore must not be allowed to stand.
Justice Adah, who delivered the lead judgment, held that the utterances of the trial judge, Justice Okon Abang, in the course of the trial, established that he was biased against the convicts.
He, therefore, ordered that trial be conducted afresh.
He directed that the case file be sent back to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for reassignment to another judge other than Justice Abang, Punch reports.
