A Federal High Court, Abuja, on Tuesday, granted leave to Mrs Cecilia Osipitan, wife of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, to travel to the United States (US) on health grounds.
Justice Inyang Ekwo granted Osipitan’s plea after her counsel, Tayo Oyetibo, SAN, moved the motion on notice, which was not opposed to by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)’s Lawyer, Christopher Mshelia.
The judge then adjourned the matter until Oct. 18, Oct. 19 and Oct. 20 for trial continuation.
The application marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/9/2021 dated July 6 and filed on July 7, had eight grounds in support.
The senior lawyer said Osipitan, who was billed to undergo a medical examination on July 25 at the South Georgia Urology Clinic, Albaby, Georgia, was expected to travel between July 15 and Aug. 30.
He said he sought “an order granting the release of the applicant’s International Passport No. A10430040 to the applicant to enable her to travel out of the country subject to the condition that the said international passport shall be returned to registrar of this court within five working days of the return of the applicant to the country.”
He said the application was brought pursuant to sections 33(1), 35, 36(1) and 41 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the inherent jurisdiction of the court. Oyetibo, in the application, urged the court to grant the request on the grounds that, prior to Osipitan’s arraignment, she had been diagnosed with interstitial cystitis of the bladder along with severe urethral stenosis at the US hospital.
“The conditions require continuous close monitoring and care from her physicians in the U. S.,” he said.
Osipitan, who was arraigned on March 26 alongside her company, PJO Ventures Limited, was admitted to bail in the sun of N200 million with a surety in the like sum.
While the EFCC is the complainant, Osipitan and her company are 1st and 2nd defendants respectively in a nine-count money laundering charge to the tune of N6 billion. She was alleged to have received the money through her company to acquire choice property in parts of the country.
