Former Cross River State Auditor General, John Odey, says the judgement of the Cross River State High Court sitting in Calabar and presided over by Justice Bassey Ebuta, that found him guilty of defamation of the character of Joseph Imbufe, former Coordinator of the State and Local Governance Reforms, SLOGOR, Project, is the beginning of a legal battle that is headed for the Supreme Court.
Odey was found guilty in the judgement delivered this past Thursday, by the presiding judge and fined N5 million for aggravated damages of the reputation of Imbufe, who is the Respondent in the matter.
Odey who shared an exclusive reaction to the judgement with www.calitown.com, maintained that “corruption has eaten deep into the fabric of all our institutions. We will proceed with this matter up to the Supreme Court. You can not convert government properties to your personal property on retirement without due process, only to procure judgment from the court of first instance to your favour.” He declined to say more.
But sources who plead anonymity told us that Odey and Imbufe are at crossroads over government property Odey insists the latter suspectedly carted away. We can however confirm that Odey has quickly moved to appeal the matter and his legal team has served Imbufe and his legal team, an appeal notice.
