The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Thursday, fixed 20 September to decide on a suit by Andrew Yakubu, a former Group Managing Director (GMD), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), over some bundles of hard currency notes seized from him by the EFCC.
Although the court had acquitted Mr Yakubu of the charges that formed the basis for the seizure of the money from him, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) insisted it would not release the cash until it exhausted its right of appeal to the Supreme Court over the matter.
The EFCC, acting on a tip-off in 2017, had stormed Mr Yakubu’s residence in the Sabon Tasha area of Kaduna State and found $9,772 800 and £74,000 in a safe.
The commission subsequently arraigned him at the Federal High Court in Abuja on six counts of money laundering and other offences on 16 March 2017,
But the Court of Appeal, ruling on a no-case submission filed by the former NNPC boss, struck out four charges and ordered the trial to proceed on the remaining two counts. The two counts are money laundering offences.
The trial judge, Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court, went on to dismiss the remaining two counts in a ruling delivered on 31 March 2022. He said the prosecution failed to establish the necessary ingredients of the charges to warrant Mr Yakubu’s conviction.
Displeased that EFCC refused to release the money seized from him after his acquittal, Mr Yakubu sued the commission with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) joined as co-defendants.
Hearing
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the judge handling the new suit, Inyang Ekwo, took arguments of parties before adjourning for judgement on Thursday.
At the hearing, A.A. Usman, standing in for Mr Yakubu’s lead counsel, Ahmed Raji, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, urged the court to grant the applicant’s prayers.
Mr Yakubu, through his legal team, urged the court to hold that EFCC ought not to continue withholding his money after he had been acquitted of the charges the money was linked to on 31 March 2022.
He urged the court to order the release of the money to him immediately or that the money be paid into an account under the control of the registry of the court, pending the outcome of the appeal lodged by the EFCC against his acquittal.
EFCC’s argument
But the EFCC urged the court to dismiss Mr Yakubu’s application.
In its response filed on 12 April, EFCC’s lawyer, Faruk Abdullah, argued that the suit constituted an abuse of the court process and that the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the matter.
The commission stated in an affidavit deposed to by a detective, Sambo Mayana, to support its legal arguments that its appeal challenging Mr Yakubu’s acquittal had already been entered with appeal number: CA/ABJ/CR/653/2022.
Besides, it said that there were other appeals arising from the case pending at the Supreme Court. He said one of the Supreme Court cases has an appeal number: SC/CR/241/2020 (between the Federal Government and Mr Yakubu), and the other appeal is marked: $C/CR/223/2020 between Mr Yakubu and the federal government).
It said Mr Yakubu, by this present suit at the Federal High Court, replicated his application at the Supreme Court.
The EFCC urged the court to discountenance Mr Yakubu’s application and uphold its preliminary objection in the interest of justice.
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CBN’s lawyer, Lateef Fagbemi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and the GTB’s counsel, similarly asked the court to dismiss Mr Yakubu’s suit.
The judge then adjourned the case until 22 September for a ruling.
(NAN)
