A Chief Magistrate Court in Abuja has struck out the case and nullified the warrant of arrest issued against Pastor Umo Eno, PDP Governorship Candidate in Akwa Ibom State.
The Chief Magistrate Court, Wuse zone 6, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), presided by chief magistrate Emmanuel Iyanna, had, on December 23, 2022, issued a warrant of arrest based on allegation of cheating brought before it by Edet Godwin Etim.
Already, Eno is facing certificates forgery in the Appeal Court, Port Harcourt in a case instituted by Akan Okon, a PDP governorship aspirant.
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The complainant in the suit marked CR/94/2022, had dragged the governorship candidate to the court on charges of “cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property.”
“You are hereby directed to arrest the said Pastor Umo Bassey Eno and produce him before me. The criminal proceedings have been concluded and Eno was convicted,” the chief magistrate said.
“The warrant of arrest is based on criminal proceedings conviction conducted by the chief magistrate court, Wuse, Abuja, and directed that the defendant be arrested and brought to court for sentencing having continuously refused to surrender himself to court,” the source said.
However, on Wednesday, January 11, the court, upheld the position of Samuel Ikpo, the Counsel to Pastor Umo Eno, admitting that it was misled by the applicant, one Edet Godwin, into issuing the warrant of arrest.
The court, therefore, set aside the entire proceedings and judgment on grounds of lack of jurisdiction.
A source confided in Straightnews newspaper that Etim had worked in Royalty Company owned by Eno but used in the provision of food for staffers of ExxonMobil in the offshore.
The source further told our online newspaper that the company operated by Umo Eno then had on a yearly basis evaluated their staffers’ performance in line with ExxonMobil’s template, but terminated appointment of staffers found lacking.
The source averred that Etim from Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area might have been a victim of the company’s sack order some years ago.
In his reaction, Eno had admitted not ever being served with any notice of a court summons by any court, let alone the Chief Magistrate Court in Abuja.
Eno, who is the preferred candidate of Udom Emmanuel, governor of Akwa Ibom, won the party’s primary held in May 2022.
He polled 993 votes, while a total of 1,018 delegates participated in the primary election.
The PDP standard bearer defeated his closest challenger — Onofiok Luke, a member of the House of Representatives, who got two votes and Senator Bassey Albert Akpan, who polled one.
