Four days after Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi Lagos ordered his arrest, former militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, otherwise known as Tompolo, on Monday, said he does not want to be arraigned before a biased judge.
Tompolo, who was dragged to court on Thursday by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to face charges bordering on diversion of N34 billion belonging to the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), maintained innocence and accused the Federal Government of flouting court orders with impunity. The former militant said no one should be above the law, and promised to honour the invitation of the anti-
graft agency.
“He will appear before the EFCC but the court case he has with them has to be settled before he will honour the invitation,” Paul Bebenibo, Tompolo’s spokesman said.
“Be that as it may, adherence to constitutionalism and the rule of law should not be on one part. There have been so many court pronouncements which the government and its agencies have refused to obey.
“The Federal Government should also respect the rule of law. Imagine the president saying that some persons should be kept in custody when the court asked that they should be freed. It doesn’t work. Tompolo will certainly appear because there is no misdeed on his part as far as the transactions with the Federal Government and NIMASA are concerned.
“As I speak to you now, his lawyers are working to sort that out. There is no misdeed on the part of Tompolo as far as this issue that he is having with the EFCC is concerned. He was actually the backbone of NIMASA in recovering the levies, taxes and so on, since he has interest in Global West Vessel Company, which does the job for NIMASA.
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