The ICPC has received a warning to stop misrepresenting court proceedings from Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court, Abuja Monday as hearing continued in the suit filed by Pinnacle Communications Limited challenging freezing of its account by the Commission.
The judge directed ICPC counsel Shogunle to convey his “strong exceptions” on the issuance of press release by the ICPC on matters before the court to the Chairman of ICPC.
“If it happens again, I will deal with them” Justice Dimgba remarked after the counsel to Pinnacle Communications Limited, N Ekanem drew attention to the press release earlier issued by ICPC on investigation into the alleged misapplication of N2.5billion by the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission(NBC) which misrepresented proceedings of the court.
The counsel to Pinnacle Communications Limited also complained that the ICPC statement erroneously claimed the court ordered the Chairman of Pinnacle to appear before the ICPC which was not in the record of proceedings.
Another issue that came up was the revelation that the freezing of Pinnacle Communications Limited Zenith Bank account was not based on a court order.
The court heard from N Ekanem (SAN) that it was an “ICPC order” that was issued to the bank.
The counsel argued that the ICPC did not have sufficient grounds to justify its decision to freeze the account of Pinnacle Communications Limited.
The judge reserved ruling on the matter for December 14.
