Governorship candidate of the Young Progressives Party in Akwa Ibom, Senator Bassey Albert who was jailed by the Federal High Court in Uyo for corruption, has been granted bail by a vacation federal high court sitting in Port-Harcourt.

He was granted a post-conviction bail pending appeal, after pleading for mercy to enable him undergo further medical care and treatment.

This newspaper gathered that the convicted Senator had previously organized a football competition with other jail inmates, where he participated in the football match and claimed he was injured.

Findings reveal that the vacation Federal High Court for South/South zone granted him bail, because he appeared at the court room with signs that he was in dire needs of intensive medical care having been undergoing treatment at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital.

OBA's appeal against the judgement of the federal high court is yet to come up for hearing before the Appeal Court.

A source who confided in this newspaper on condition of anonymity, disclosed that he(Bassey Albert) “is an inmate who got injured while playing football at the correctional facility”.

He is said to have first gone to a private medical facility and when he requested for a medical certificate that he could tender in court, he was referred to the Teaching Hospital, as Federal Courts only honour reports from government owned facilities.
“He has been at the teaching hospital for some days now and that is why those who went to visit him at Ikot Ekpene could not meet him,” a source disclosed.

It would be recalled that the Senator Bassey Albert was convicted on Thursday, December 1, this year, by the Federal High Court in Uyo, presided by Justice Agatha Okeke, having found him guilty of corruption and money laundering charges brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

Reacting to this, a legal professional, Emmanuel Udosen, said “the court reserved the right to grant or reject post conviction bails and in any case, if the court exercises her right, nothing new, and nothing worth jubilating, more so in a case where a public officer expected to live above board soils his hands in corrupt practices which negates the code of conduct expected of such a public officer.”

Elder Udosen explained that, “Bassey Albert’s application for post conviction bail was filed at the Vacation Court in Port Harcourt because the Federal High Courts, including Uyo Federal High Court that convicted him are on vacation.”

Udosen maintained that the Vacation Court, being a court of Coordinate Jurisdiction with the Federal High Court, Uyo can be construed as the court of first instance.

“A vacation court is an emergency arrangement put in place to attend to urgent matters which may not wait for the courts to resume from vacation.

OBA's post conviction bail application came up on the 22nd December 2022 at the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt, being the vacation court for the Federal High Courts. The matter was adjourned to Wednesday, 28th December for judgement which has since gone the way of the applicant.

On why the case went to a court of coordinate jurisdiction and not an appellate Court , he admitted that the application for post conviction Bail could not be heard in the vacation Court of Appeal as there is no pending appeal before it by Senator Albert Akpan.

“Senator Albert’s appeal has not yet been filed at the Appeal Court because the courts are on vacation”, he added.

edikandavid:
Governorship candidate of the Young Progressives Party in Akwa Ibom, Senator Bassey Albert who was jailed by the Federal High Court in Uyo for corruption, has been granted bail by a vacation federal high court sitting in Port-Harcourt.

He was granted a post-conviction bail pending appeal, after pleading for mercy to enable him undergo further medical care and treatment.

This newspaper gathered that the convicted Senator had previously organized a football competition with other jail inmates, where he participated in the football match and claimed he was injured.

Findings reveal that the vacation Federal High Court for South/South zone granted him bail, because he appeared at the court room with signs that he was in dire needs of intensive medical care having been undergoing treatment at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital.

OBA's appeal against the judgement of the federal high court is yet to come up for hearing before the Appeal Court.

A source who confided in this newspaper on condition of anonymity, disclosed that he(Bassey Albert) “is an inmate who got injured while playing football at the correctional facility”.

He is said to have first gone to a private medical facility and when he requested for a medical certificate that he could tender in court, he was referred to the Teaching Hospital, as Federal Courts only honour reports from government owned facilities.
“He has been at the teaching hospital for some days now and that is why those who went to visit him at Ikot Ekpene could not meet him,” a source disclosed.

It would be recalled that the Senator Bassey Albert was convicted on Thursday, December 1, this year, by the Federal High Court in Uyo, presided by Justice Agatha Okeke, having found him guilty of corruption and money laundering charges brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

Reacting to this, a legal professional, Emmanuel Udosen, said “the court reserved the right to grant or reject post conviction bails and in any case, if the court exercises her right, nothing new, and nothing worth jubilating, more so in a case where a public officer expected to live above board soils his hands in corrupt practices which negates the code of conduct expected of such a public officer.”

Elder Udosen explained that, “Bassey Albert’s application for post conviction bail was filed at the Vacation Court in Port Harcourt because the Federal High Courts, including Uyo Federal High Court that convicted him are on vacation.”

Udosen maintained that the Vacation Court, being a court of Coordinate Jurisdiction with the Federal High Court, Uyo can be construed as the court of first instance.

“A vacation court is an emergency arrangement put in place to attend to urgent matters which may not wait for the courts to resume from vacation.

OBA's post conviction bail application came up on the 22nd December 2022 at the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt, being the vacation court for the Federal High Courts. The matter was adjourned to Wednesday, 28th December for judgement which has since gone the way of the applicant.

On why the case went to a court of coordinate jurisdiction and not an appellate Court , he admitted that the application for post conviction Bail could not be heard in the vacation Court of Appeal as there is no pending appeal before it by Senator Albert Akpan.

“Senator Albert’s appeal has not yet been filed at the Appeal Court because the courts are on vacation”, he added.

@DissTroy OBA is back. YPP is now a popular political party over there because of the senator.