EXTRA: Metuh back in court… in suit!

For the first time since regaining his freedom on January 28, Olisa Metuh, national publicity secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), returned to court on Thursday looking markedly different from the figure who appeared in court all through January.

Metuh appeared a federal high court in Abuja for the first time looking unusually heavily-bearded; and by the time he appeared in court on January 19, he was handcuffed, sparking outrage from members and followers of his party.

He was again handcuffed to court two days later. January 22 was the third time he was handcuffed to court, and he remained the bearded figure whose photos dominated newspaper front pages.

Signs of freedom were easily noticeable all over Metuh when he returned to court on Thursday – exactly a week after he was released from detention on bail – as he he was clean-shaven and dressed in a suit.

However, Metuh would have wished for a different court hearing – not one where Abba Dabo, former special adviser on political matters to former Vice President Namadi Sambo, claimed that the party spokesman gave him N25m to fight criticisms in the traditional and in the social media against former President Goodluck Jonathan, but he turned it in to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of his own volition after discovering that the money was linked to the controversial arms deal.

Metuh is facing a seven-count charge of money laundering brought against him by EFCC. He is also facing a two-count charge of destroying the evidence he provided while in detention.