The Court of Appeal,
Lagos Division, has discharged and acquitted a former Director General of the
Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Patrick Akpobolokemi, who
was charged with an alleged fraud of N2.6bn.
In a lead judgment on
Friday by Justice Yargatta Nimpar, a three-man appellate court panel upheld the
no-case submission filed by Akpolokemi in response to the criminal charges.
The Appeal Court
overruled the decision of Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court in
Lagos, who, on October 16, 2017, dismissed Akpobolokemi’s no-case submission.
The Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission had, on December 4, 2015, arraigned Akpobolokemi
alongside five others for allegedly diverting N2.6bn from the coffers of NIMASA
between December 2013 and May 2015.
The funds, the anti-graft
agency claimed, were approved by ex-President Goodluck Jonathan for the
implementation of a security project tagged, “International Ship and Ports
Security Code in Nigerian Ports.”
Those charged alongside
Akpobolokemi were Ezekiel Agaba, Ekene Nwakuche, Governor Juan, Blockz and
Stonz Limited and Al-Kenzo Logistics Limited.
The six defendants had
all pleaded not guilty to the 22 charges pressed against them, following which
the EFCC opened its case, calling 12 witnesses and tendering 77 exhibits in a
bid to prove the allegation.
Upon the closure of the
EFCC’s case in 2017, all the defendants had filed no-case submissions,
contending that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against
them.
But Justice Buba, in an
October 16, 2017 ruling, dismissed their no-case submissions, holding that they
had a case to answer.
Justice Buba had held
that, “From the evidence of the first prosecution witness, it is well
established that all the defendants have case to answer; the exhibits tendered
and the testimonies of other witnesses have established that there is a prima
facie case against the defendants.”
Displeased, however, they
all went on appeal and in a judgment on Friday, June 1, 2018, the Court of
Appeal discharged and acquitted Akpobolokemi of the entire 22 counts.
However, the five other
defendants were not discharged, as the appellate court upheld Justice Buba’s
verdict that they had a case to answer.
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