Justice F. Giwa Ogunbanjo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Thursday, November 21, 2024, criticized Nicholas Mutu, a former Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), for violating his bail conditions by traveling abroad without court approval.

Mutu, who served as chairman from August 2014 to August 2016, is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on 13 charges of money laundering involving N320 million.

During the proceedings, Justice Ogunbanjo expressed dismay over the defendant’s unauthorized foreign travels, describing his actions as contempt of court. "There is no justification for the defendant to flout the order of this honorable court. The order is that the defendant must not leave this country without express permission from the court, and it appears that he has left without permission or even notification. I am not going to sweep it under the carpet,” she stated.

The revelation of Mutu’s unauthorized travels came to light when EFCC counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, informed the court that investigations by the Nigerian Immigration Service uncovered that the defendant had been using an undisclosed passport to travel. This passport was not among the three previously surrendered to the EFCC and deposited with the court.

Iheanacho prayed the court to revoke Mutu’s bail, arguing, “The provisions of Sections 173 and 175 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act allow this court to revoke his bail. With another passport, the defendant can take off at any time. The claim that EFCC failed to collect all his passports has no basis, as the bail conditions clearly required express court permission for any travel. I urge this honorable court to revoke his bail.”

The trial had faced delays for months due to the inability to locate the three surrendered passports, leading to a blame game between the court and the EFCC. However, the passports were eventually found in the court’s registry on Wednesday, November 20, 2024.

Following this discovery, Justice Ogunbanjo apologized to the prosecution for the confusion. "I would like to apologize to Iheanacho. This situation has caused significant embarrassment. We believed the passports were not in our custody, and when I was informed yesterday that they were found, I was shocked. On behalf of the Registry, I apologize. Moving forward, I advise that all processes or documents deposited in court must include proper acknowledgment,” the judge stated.

The court ordered Mutu to surrender all passports to the registrar and prohibited him from traveling until the full circumstances surrounding his unauthorized trips are clarified.

The case was adjourned to February 17 and 18, 2025, to allow the prosecution to review an affidavit filed by defense counsel P.I.N. Ikwueto, SAN.