''Looters list not a violation of those whose names were listed'' Court declares

The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Apo, Abuja, has declared that the Federal Government’s alleged looters’ list released by the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed in March this year, does not in any way infringe on the rights of those whose names were listed.

Justice Olukayode Adeniyi gave the ruling this morning in a suit filed by Raymond Dokpesi, chairman of the African Independent Television and Ray Power Radio, in which he prayed the court to declare the looters’ list as void.

Justice Olukayode Adeniyi held that the suit lacked merit. According to him, the disclosure of the alleged looters’ list does not carry any force of law as the minister is neither the judge or the prosecutor in the criminal case pending before the Federal High Court against Dokpesi.

The presiding judge held that if Dokpesi is aggrieved by the enlisting of his name in the list released, he should seek remedy via a libel/slander suit.

In the meantime, the court adjourned the libel suit filed against Lai Mohammed by Dokpesi to November 9th.