N1.5bn fraud: Temi Omatseye knows fate May 20

By RICHARDS ADENIYI

JUSTICE Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia of the Federal High Court in Lagos last week failed to deliver judgment in the trial of a former Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Director-General, Temisan Omatseye.

Judgment was fixed before the judge was transferred to the court’s Ilorin Division.She, however, could not return to Lagos to deliver the verdict as expected. A new date, May 20, has been fixed.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned Omatseye for allegedly awarding contracts above his threshold.

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He was charged with 27 counts bordering on bid rigging and contract splitting involving about N1.5 billion.

Parties adopted their final written addresses on March 14. Omatseye’s lawyer, Edoka Onyeke, urged the court to dismiss the prosecution’s arguments and acquit his client. He had argued that the prosecution did not prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.

The prosecutor, Chief Godwin Obla (SAN), urged the court to uphold the prosecution’s case. He said there was evidence that Omatseye went beyond his threshold of N2.5million for “goods” and N5million for “works”.