The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said that it would appeal the ruling which acquitted a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal and five others on fraud charges.
Lawal, his younger brother Hamidu David Lawal, together with Apeh John Monday, Sulaiman Abubakar, two businesses — Rholavision Engineering Limited and Josmon Technologies Limited — were charged by the EFCC on 10 counts of alleged money laundering, official corruption, and criminal conspiracy involving N544 million.
But on Friday, Justice Charles Agbaza of a Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja cleared the former SGF of all charges and dismissed the case against him.
EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren said in a statement that the commission would study the ruling and approach the appellate court to reverse it.
The statement read: “Ruling on the no-case submission made by the defendants today (Friday), Justice Agbaza held that the commission which presented 11 witnesses in the course of the trial, failed to establish the ingredients of the alleged offence.
“He held that the commission did not establish that Babachir Lawal was either a member of the Presidential Initiative for North East that awarded the contract or a member of the ministerial tenders board that vetted and gave approval to the disputed contract.
“But dissatisfied with the ruling, the EFCC has given indication that it will obtain a copy of the judgment for urgent review and challenge its validity at the appellate court”.
Justice Agbaza said that the anti-graft agency was unable to prove its case against the former SGF and his co-defendants.
He ruled on Babachir Lawal’s no-case motion, finding that the EFCC had claimed that none of the 11 witnesses who testified on its behalf had established any elements of any offence.
Justice Agbaza further ruled that the EFCC had failed to connect Babachir Lawal to the Bureau of Public Procurement, which had granted a certificate of no objection to the contract prior to its award.
