The EFCC filed the N570 million money laundering charges against Winifred Oyo-Ita, former Head of Service (HoS) of the Federation, and others six years ago.
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday discharged and acquitted Winifred Oyo-Ita, former Head of Service (HoS) of the Federation, of money laundering offences, six years after the trial began.
Trial judge James Omotosho, in a ruling on the separate no-case submissions filed by Mrs Oyo-Ita and her co-defendants, held that their applications were meritorious.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the former HoS, her personal assistant, Ubong Effiok, and seven others had been facing money laundering charges involving N570 million.
Mr Omotosho, in the ruling, held that the case, brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), “was built on the quicksand of speculations, suspicions and shoddy investigation.”
“I must say here that the case presented by the prosecution has no weight whatsoever,” the judge said, adding, “Crucial elements of money laundering offences which are the establishment of a predicate offence were glaringly absent in this case presented by the prosecution.”
The judge held that Mrs Oyo-Ita, who was the first defendant in the 18 counts was not a shareholder or director in the companies allegedly linked to her.
Mr Omotosho also held that the monies allegedly given to the ex-HoS by the third prosecution witness and the fifth prosecution witness had not been shown to be proceeds of illegal activity.
He said, “Those contracts were duly approved and executed as confirmed by the seventh and the eighth prosecution witnesses.
“Even the Estacodes, Duty Tour Allowances (DTAs) and air tickets paid by PW-4 (the fourth prosecution witness) to the seventh defendant (Ubong Effiok) for the benefit of first defendant (Oyo-Ita) have also been shown to have been duly approved and that the first defendant was not an approving authority.”
According to the judge, her alleged failure to fully disclose her assets was also not thoroughly investigated and the result is a case that is doomed to fail.
“In final analysis, the no-case submissions filed by the first, second and third defendants on the one hand, the fourth to the sixth defendants and the seventh to the ninth defendants are meritorious.
“Consequently, these no-case submissions are hereby upheld.
“Accordingly, the first to the ninth defendants are hereby discharged and acquitted of the 18-count charge,” Mr Omotosho ruled.
NAN reports that the EFCC had, on 28 February 2020, filed the 18 counts against Mrs Oyo-Ita, and others including Frontline Ace Global Services Ltd and Asanaya Projects Ltd.
The rest of the defendants named in the case marked FHC/ABJ/CR/20/2020 are Garba Umar, Slopes International Ltd, Gooddeal Investments Ltd, Ubong Okon Effiok and U & U Global Services Ltd.
The defendants were being prosecuted for alleged fraud in relation to DTAs, estacodes, conference fees fraud and receiving kick-backs on contracts to the tune of N570 million.
In Count 1, the EFCC alleged that Mrs Oyo-Ita, while serving as a deputy director in the Federal Ministry of Power, and Frontline Ace Global Services Ltd, a company incorporated in Nigeria and of which she was alleged to be the sole signatory of its bank accounts at Zenith Bank, committed the offences in April 2010.
The ex-HoS and the company were also alleged to have collaborated in disguising the genuine ownership of N20 million paid by the ministry into the Frontline Ace Zenith Bank account number 1011518656 which sum was alleged to be derived directly from an illegal act.
The offence is punishable under Section 14(1)b) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2004, among other counts.
Mrs Oyo-Ita and her co-defendants were first arraigned on 23 March 2020, before Justice Taiwo Taiwo (now retired). They pleaded not guilty to the 18 counts.
The case was, however, reassigned to Justice Omotosho after Justice Taiwo’s retirement.
The EFCC called eight witnesses and tendered documentary evidence to establish its case.
After the prosecution closed its case, the defendants opt for a no-case submission.
The defendants, who argued that the prosecution had failed to establish any ingredient of the offences against them beyond reasonable doubt to warrant any defence whatsoever, submitted that the commission had not made out a prima facie case against them.
Delivering the ruling, Mr Omotosho observed that a no-case submission is a situation where there is no sufficient evidence adduced by the prosecution upon which the court can convict a defendant or for him to enter his defence.
According to him, it can also mean a situation where it appears to the court that the prosecution has failed to establish a prima facie case.
“The law presumes an accused person to be innocent until the contrary is proved and as such asking him to enter his defence will amount to asking him to prove his innocence,” he said.
The judge, who listed what the court must look out for in upholding or dismissing a no-case submission in line with Section 303 of ACJA, held that the evidence led by the prosecution had not shown that the sums of monies in counts 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the charge were tainted with unlawful activities.
“The law is trite that to establish money laundering offences, the prosecution is expected to establish a predicate offence first before the issues of disguising, concealing the origin or conversion of properties comes in,” he said.
According to him, the allegation made by the prosecution is only that monies were paid into the account of Frontline Ace Global Resources Limited.
