TheCable

Olisa Metuh, former national publicity secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has been released from Kuje prison after ten months in custody.

Metuh left the prison in Abuja on Thursday following the court judgment that voided his conviction.

A federal high court in Abuja had on February 25 jailed him for 39 years after he was convicted of money laundering.

Okon Abang, a judge, had found the former PDP spokesman guilty of the seven-count charge filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which accused him of illegally receiving N400 million from the office of the national security adviser.

His conviction was, however, nullified by a court of appeal on December 16.

Metuh walking out of prison

Ruling on an appeal filed by Metuh, the appellate court held that Okon Abang, a judge, exhibited bias in the case of the former PDP spokesman.

“The narrative of the trial judge suggest someone who didn’t enjoy trying the appellant and counsel because he said they were picking on him,” Stephen Adah who read the court’s decision, said.

“He was struggling with the case and even wished that he should be recused out of the case. The influence from this narrative is indisputably to say the least that a trial judge was angered only in his mind that he was wrongly influenced and showed bias against the appellant in this case as this is what manifests from all the outburst, he has infused in his judgment.”