Metuh seeks fresh permission to travel abroad for treatment

Former National Publicity Secretary, People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olisa Metuh, has filed a fresh application before the Federal High Court, Abuja, seeking the release of his International Passport to enable him travel abroad for medical treatment.

In the application moved by his counsel, Emeka Etiaba (SAN), Metuh prayed the trial judge, Justice Okon Abang, to grant him leave to travel abroad on health reasons.

Etiaba, who argued the application for the release of Metuh’s travel document yesterday, told the court that the instant application was different from the two previous ones, which the court had heard and ruled on.

He drew the attention of the court to Exhibit three attached to the application, which was a letter dated February 14, and addressed to Dr. Raymond Onwuelo by Mr. Andrean T. H. Kessy, a Neurological and Spinal Surgery Consultant in London, stating detailed health status of Metuh.

He said the surgery on Metuh would take about 10 days and requires five weeks to heal.

However, counsel to the second defendant, Destra Investments Limited, Tochukwu Onwugbufor (SAN), in his submission stated that the application deals with the exercise of the court’s discretion.

He noted that the granting of the application by the court would speed up the trial, as Metuh will have no reason to be absent from court for his trial after treatment.

But the prosecution counsel, Sylvanus Tahir, while opposing the application, said the defence had failed to place sufficient materials before the court to warrant exercise of its discretion on the application.

He stated that all the exhibits the defence attached to support the affidavit were un-convincing, and not qualified as a medical report to warrant a critical look by the court to see the defendant’s complaints of ill-health.

Tahir, therefore, urged the court to dismiss the application for lacking in merit, and to consider it as an abuse of court’s process.

The matter has been adjourned till today for further hearing of the case.