A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, south-west Nigeria, has cleared a former Aviation Minister, Mr Femi Fani-Kayode, of 38 charges, partly upholding his no case Submission.
Mr Fani-Kayode was facing charges bordering on money laundering filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
After 38 of the 40 charges were dismissed Mr Fani-Kayode told reporters that he was accused of stealing 99 million Naira from the Aviation Intervention Fund by the EFCC.
He said that the crime actually took place before he became the Minister of Aviation.
Delivering judgement on the charges, the court reduced the alleged amount to 2.5 million Naira.
He said he would give an explanation as regards the 2.5 million Naira that the court had not cleared.
‘No Case Submission’
In the ‘no case submission’, Mr Fani-Kayode had argued that the EFCC had not succeeded in linking him to charges, a situation which warrants him to make no defence.
At the last sitting of the court, the former ministers Counsel, Mr Ifedayo Adedipe, informed the court of the application for the no case submission.
He urged the court to adopt his submissions and discharge his client of all 40 counts of money laundering.
The lawyer argued that even though the statement of account of the accused person was put in evidence for which he was required by the prosecution to make explanations, such statement was not prima facie evidence of crime.
Citing the authority of Abacha vs State, the lawyer stressed that by the decision of the Supreme Court, such statement of account could only amount to mere suspicion, suspicion which no matter how well placed, did not constitute a prima facie case.
The prosecutor, Mr Festus Keyamo, has however opposed the no case submission, and called on the former minister to put his defence forward.
He corrected the notion that the prosecution’s case does not concern lodgement, but transactions which took place before the lodgement.
According to him, “transactions which are done without going through financial institutions, is what comes under the definition of money laundering” and these are the charges against the accused person.