EFCC loses case against Atiku’s son-in-law

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has lost the case of corruption against Abdullahi Babalele, son-in-law of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court, Lagos, on Monday struck out the suit brought before the court by the EFCC against Abdullahi Babalele, on charges of illicit payment of $140,000.00.  The judge dismissed the suit as being defective as well as a no prima facie case.

Justice Aneke suo motu on the issue of jurisdiction, stated that EFCC was on forum-shopping in instituting the suit at the Federal High Court, Lagos, rather than  Abeokuta, Ogun State, where the offence was claimed to have been committed.

Justice Aneke maintained that the right place for the prosecution of the case should be  Abeokuta, not Lagos.

The Judge added that “in the event that he was wrong on this score, and that the court has jurisdiction to entertain the case, the No case submission filed and argued by the Babalele ‘s Counsel, Mike Ozekhome SAN, succeeds in its entirety for the following reasons: “That the Prosecution failed woefully to prove any element of the offence charged, or adduce any evidence linking the Defendant with the offence charged.

“The Prosecution Witness-1 contradicted himself when he testified that he gave the said $140,000 to former President Olusegun Obasanjo in his house at Abeokuta, Ogun State, whereas in his written extra judicial which were admitted in court during trial, he had written that he gave the money to an unknown person at Obasanjo library, Ota.

“Statement before the EFCC while in his extra judicial statements that were admitted in court during trial, he wrote that he gave the money to an unknown person at Obasanjo Library.”

The Judge, therefore, acknowledged that this was a material contradiction in the evidence presented by the prosecution. The Judge maintained that PW-1 in his oral testimony in court testified that it was the Defendant that transferred the Naira equivalent to his bank accounts, but from the bank statements and under cross examination by defence counsel, Ozekhome, it was not the Defendant that transferred the said money to PW-1’s accounts, but the said money was transferred by one Jamiu Amosu and Jaybid Global Services Ltd.

He remarked that “No reason was proffered by the prosecution for this fundamental discrepancy in its case.”

The also held that the charge filed by EFCC against the Defendant was incompetent as the charge alleged that it was the Defendant (Babalele) that procured and aided PW-1 to make the said payment, without any scintilla of evidence to proof same. “There was also no evidence linking the said money transferred to PW-1, to any illicit transaction which is one of the cardinal grounds for a money laundering charge to be sustained,” the Judge declared. He, therefore, discharged Babalele.