By Victor Osula Abuja
The Supreme Court on Friday gave the Federal Government of Nigeria the green light to extradite former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company (NSPM), Emmanuel Okoyomon, to the United Kingdom to face bribery-related charges.
In a unanimous decision, a five-member panel of the apex court dismissed an appeal filed by Okoyomon seeking to overturn the June 6, 2016 judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which upheld an earlier order approving his extradition.
The panel, led by Justice Mohammed Garba, held that the appeal, marked SC/456/2016, lacked merit and did not present sufficient grounds for the court to interfere with the concurrent findings of the lower courts.
In the lead judgment prepared by Justice Emmanuel Agim and read by Justice Mohammed Idris, the apex court held that the former NSPM chief failed to establish any case warranting a reversal of the decisions of the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal.
The case stemmed from an application by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), seeking Okoyomon’s extradition to the United Kingdom, where he is wanted over allegations of involvement in a bribery scandal involving officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company, and Australia-based Securency International Pty.
The Federal High Court in Abuja had on May 4, 2015, granted the AGF’s request for extradition.
Dissatisfied with the ruling, Okoyomon challenged the decision at the Court of Appeal, alleging among other things that his constitutional right to fair hearing had been breached.
However, the appellate court, in a lead judgment delivered by Justice Moore Adumein on June 6, 2016, dismissed most of the arguments raised by the former NSPM boss.
Justice Adumein held that Nigeria has obligations under the London Scheme for Extradition within the Commonwealth to surrender individuals wanted for extraditable offences by fellow Commonwealth countries.
“The lower court was right to have acted the way it did, so as to avoid a situation whereby Nigeria could breach its obligations to a fellow Commonwealth country, the UK,” the appellate court held.
The court further ruled that the provisions of the London Scheme for Extradition had been substantially incorporated into Nigerian law through Sections 1 and 2 of the Extradition Act.
According to the appellate court, the AGF successfully established grounds for granting the extradition request, while Okoyomon failed to convince the court why the application should be refused.
The court also addressed Okoyomon’s argument on fair hearing, noting that although one issue regarding his alleged British citizenship was raised suo motu by the trial judge, the appellant failed to demonstrate how it resulted in any miscarriage of justice.
Justice Adumein held that whether or not Okoyomon was a British citizen had no material effect on the merit of the extradition proceedings.
Following the appellate court’s ruling, Okoyomon approached the Supreme Court in a final attempt to overturn the decision.
Friday’s verdict effectively ends the prolonged legal battle and clears the way for the Federal Government to proceed with his extradition to the United Kingdom for trial.
The matter is linked to broader investigations into alleged international bribery involving currency-printing contracts and remains one of the notable corruption-related cases involving former public officials and multinational entities.
