Respite
came the way of the erstwhile Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Dimeji
Bankole, Friday, as the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, discharged
and acquitted him over allegation that he used fake companies and defrauded the
federal government to the tune of N894 million while he was in office.
While
upholding a no-case-application that was filed before the court by the former
Speaker, Justice Evoh Chukwu, held that the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, EFCC, failed to establish a prima-facie criminal case against the
accused person.
Consequently,
Justice Chukwu, quashed the entire 16-count charge against the ex-Speaker,
saying he was satisfied that the accused person has no case to answer with
respect to the charge.
According
to the Judge, “The prosecution failed to prove that the accused person acted
with the intent to defraud. There is no evidence that the accused unilaterally
or in conjunction with anybody inflated prices of contracts. Evidence of the
prosecution never showed that the accused entered into agreement with either
the supplier or contractors.
“There is
no justification for the continuation of this trial, the prosecution failed to
disclose a prima-facie case to warrant the court to demand explanations from
the accused person. There is no nexus connecting the accused with the alleged
offence”, said Justice Chukwu. (VANGUARD)
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