BEVERLY HILLS, May 25, (THEWILL) – The application filed by former spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Olisa Metuh seeking leave to travel abroad for medical treatment has been thrown out by the federal high court sitting in Abuja.
In this ruling on Wednesday, Justice Okon Abang explained that the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the application because there was a subsisting order directing Metuh to deposit his international passport with the Chief Registrar of the high court.
He then stated that the court would not grant the defendant’s request since the order had not been set aside.
Abang stated that one of the requirements for Metuh’s bail was the depositing of his international passport at the court, but added that the defendant did not apply to vary the bail conditions.
According to him, “this is not a case of sympathy, but a case of law. This court has no jurisdiction to entertain this application.
“The court is not Father Christmas to give to the defendant what it did not ask for.
“The application lacks merit. It is accordingly dismissed. The court cannot set aside its decision.”
The judge dismissed Metuh’s argument that no hospital in Nigeria could treat his ailment for lack of evidence.
While rejecting an affidavit stating the medical condition of Metuh because it was not deposed to by a commissioner for oath, he said the defendant could go to the appeal court for judicial review, adding that the trial had reached advance stage.
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