A High Court in Jos, Plateau State has thrown out a suit filed by former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr Obadiah Mailafia seeking to stop the police from investigating him.
The court said on Tuesday that the police had the power to investigate anybody.
The police had invited Mailafia for questioning on criminal matters last month but he turned it down and ran to court to stop the invitation.
This was after two consecutive invitation and interrogation by the Department of State Services, DSS. The police again invited him for questioning.
Mailafia went to court asking it to restrain the police from inviting him to appear before the Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) Force Investigation Department, Police Headquarters, Abuja.
Mailafia’s legal team led by Yakubu Bawa, had said his client would not honour the invitation.
According to him, “It is sacrosanct to note that the DSS is the only statutory body empowered by law to investigate alleged crime against internal security, not the Nigeria Police. Section 3(a) of the Security Agency Act eloquently stipulated this position. In consonance with the said provision, the DSS had commenced investigation into the matter. For the purpose of clarity and emphasis, the DSS is still investigating Dr Mailafia in respect of the said matter.”
