A High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Monday discharged and acquitted a former member of the National Assembly, Farah Dagogo, of Criminal Charges proffered against him by the Rivers State Government.
Dagogo, an ally of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 general elections, Atiku Abubakar, is the immediate past member who represented the Degema-Bonny Constituency in the House of Representatives.
Dagogo was arrested on April 28, 2022, in Port Harcourt, the day he appeared for screening as a PDP Governorship aspirant at the South-South zonal secretariat of the party in Port Harcourt.
His arrest followed his being earlier declared wanted by then Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, who accused him of sponsoring thugs and cultists to disrupt the PDP screening exercise for National Assembly and State Assembly aspirants in Port Harcourt.
But the former federal lawmaker denied the allegation, maintaining that it was all trump-up charges to prevent him from contesting the governorship position.
Before the latest ruling, Dr. Farah Dagogo had been on bail since June 2022, after spending 63 days in detention earlier.
In his ruling in suit no PHC/1440/CR/2022- ‘The State v Hon Farah Dagogo’, Justice Chinwendu Nworgu of the Port Harcourt High Court expressed dismay that the prosecution was not diligent and thereby discharged and acquitted the former Governorship aspirant of all charges.
Speaking after the ruling, the lead counsel to Dagogo, Sir Cosmas Enweluzo, SAN, explained that the ruling had freed Dr Farah Dagogo of all encumbrances as the case cannot be resurrected in any court of law in the country.
He states, “The matter has just ended. The court dismissed the charge and discharged and acquitted the defendant, Hon. Doctor Farah Dagogo. And this is premised on the fact that there is an absolute lack of diligent prosecution.
“The prosecution has lost its steam, and so because of that, the court cannot forever keep an accused or defendant perpetually attending the court, restraining his movements and stopping him from using his precious time and subjecting everything about him to abysmal waste.
“As a result of that, the court, after its consideration, stuck out the charge and then discharged and acquitted the defendant. That means that no means or form of other charges can be brought up in any court of law against Farah Dagogo as a result of this charge.”
Enweluzo added, “Any further action taken will be seen as double jeopardy because of the fact that a decision has been taken in this matter. In order words, the decision has rested the case fully and finally, not to resurrect again. “
