been discharged and acquitted by the Abuja Division of the Federal
High Court, over allegation that he used fake companies and defrauded
the federal government to the tune of N894 million while he was in
office.
Justice Evoh Chukwu, while upholding a no-case-application that was
filed before the court by the former Speaker, Friday, 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.
'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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