A businessman, founder of Aiteo Energy and vice chairman of Nembe Exploration and Production Company Limited, Benedict Peters, is making a fresh bid to evade criminal prosecution, court records has shown.
Peters is approaching the Federal High Court in Abuja for judicial review, where he is seeking to quash a direct criminal complaint filed against him at a Magistrate’s Court in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The complaint, lodged by a private investigation company, accuses the businessman of unlawfully procuring and using a Nigerian official passport, a document reserved for specific categories of government officials and dignitaries.
According to details in the court filings, Peters is alleged to be in possession of Official Passport Number F00017845, to which he is not entitled. This is said to constitute an offence under Section 96 of the Penal Code Law (Cap. 532, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, Abuja), punishable under Section 97 of the same law.
Police sources indicate that Peters, born on December 5, 1966, was invited multiple times for questioning but allegedly failed to honour the invitations.
The businessman, who currently resides in Ghana, faces potential charges, including impersonation and forgery related to the passport.
In his application for judicial review filed pursuant to Order 43 Rule 5 of the High Court of the FCT (Civil Procedure) Rules 2025, Peters is asking the Federal High Court to remove the entire proceedings from the Magistrate Court and quash them by order of certiorari.
He further seeks to set aside any referral letter of investigation issued to the Nigeria Police and to dismiss the direct criminal complaint on grounds that the Magistrate Court lacks jurisdiction.
Peters’ legal team argues that the allegations, which reportedly include unlawful procurement and use of official and diplomatic passports as well as impersonation of state authority and related matters, fall exclusively under the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court.