Appeal Court Upholds Ex-President Jonathan Cousin’s No-Case-Submission In Alleged $40m Fraud
The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Friday upheld the no-case
submission filed by former President Goodluck Jonathan’s cousin, Robert
Azibaola, in an alleged $40m fraud and money laundering trial, a report by
Premium Times said.
A three-member panel of the appellate court led by Justice
Stephen Adah in a unanimous judgment held that the prosecution failed to
establish a prima facie case against the defendants.
Mr Azibaola and his wife, Stella, were arraigned in 2016 on
nine counts bordering on diverting the sum of $40m meant for the supply of
tactical communication kits for special forces alongside a company linked to
his (Mr Azibaola), One Plus Holdings Nigeria Limited.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission alleged that
the money was transferred from the account of the office of former National
Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki (Rtd), with the Central Bank of Nigeria to the
domiciliary account of Mr Azibaola’s company.
In their judgment, the appellate court held that the lower
court was right when it upheld the no-case submission of the first and third
defendants partially.
“The trial court was in order to discharge and acquit
Azibaola and his company in counts 1,4,5,6,7,8 and 9 because offences of money
laundering were not sufficiently proved, nor did the prosecution establish any
prima facie case against the respondents.
“We have gone through the records and found that the appeal
is lacking in merit, the appeal is hereby dismissed and the Judgment of the
lower court upheld,” Mr Adah held.
Earlier, the appellate court dismissed a preliminary
objection to the appeal on the grounds that the interlocutory appeal has lived.
The respondents had argued that the appeal was academic
because judgment has already been given in the substantive case, wherein the
court discharged and acquitted them in the remaining count two and three
charges before the appellate court.
The defendants at their arraignment in 2016 pleaded not
guilty to the nine count charge.
The prosecution called 10 witnesses and closed its case
while the defendants filed no-case-submission.
Ruling in the no-case-submission on March 29, 2018, the
trial judge, Nnamdi Dimgba, partially upheld the no-case submission of the
defendants.
While the court upheld the no-case submission in respect of
the second defendants and accordingly discharged and acquitted her from the
charges.
The court held that Mr Azibaola and his company had a case
to answer in regards to counts two and three of the charge.
Not satisfied by this decision, EFCC approached the Court of
Appeal seeking an order to set aside the ruling and order the defendants to
enter their defence.
Comments
Post a Comment