The Court of Appeal, Lagos, on Friday,
struck out an application by the Lagos
State Government, seeking leave to
appeal the verdict which acquitted Major
Hamza Al-Mustapha and Lateef
Shofolahan.
Al-Mustapha, a former Chief Security
Officer to late General Sanni Abacha,
and Shofolahan, former aide to late
Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, were sentenced to
death on January 30 last year, by Justice
Mojisola Dada of a Lagos High Court,
Ikeja.
However, the Appeal Court on July 12
upturned the lower court’s judgment,
insisting that the prosecution failed to
establish a charge of murder against the
appellants.
Dissatisfied by the judgment, the state
government indicated its readiness to
appeal the verdict at the Supreme Court.
At the resumed hearing on Friday, the
Assistant Chief State Counsel, Femi
Adamson, in an oral submission, prayed
the court to strike out the application,
same having been withdrawn by the
respondents, due to effluxion of time.
He noted that by the provisions of the
rules of court, such application, seeking
leave of appeal, ought to have been filed
before the expiration of the stipulated 30
days after the judgment.
“My lord we have an application before
this court, dated August 12 and filed on
the same date, for leave to appeal the
order of this court delivered on July 12.
“This application has however been
overtaken by time, and so, this court
lacks jurisdiction to entertain same.
“We hereby withdraw this application
before your lordship, and we shall
ensure that we file all necessary
processes before the Supreme Court,”
Adamson said.
The application for withdrawal was not
objected by Counsels to the appellants,
Adedayo Adedeji and Olalekan Ojo.
The appeal panel headed by Justice
Shagbaor Ikyegh, in a short ruling, struck
out the application.
“This application having been
withdrawn is accordingly struck out,” he
ruled.

source : THE NATION NEWSPAPER

Let sleeping dogs lie, LASG.

End of discussion

Can a qualified lawyer explain what the guy who wrote this story is trying to say? I thought it was the court of appeal that set them free last time