From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The Abuja division of the Federal High Court has discharged and acquitted a former Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Andrew Yakubu, of the $9.8 million corruption charges brought against him by the Federal Government.
In his judgment delivered on Thursday, Justice Ahmed Mohammed ordered the huge foreign exchange seized from him in 2017 and kept at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) be refunded to him forthwith.
The judge held that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which put Yakubu on trial, failed woefully to establish that he held the money over and above the threshold allowed by law.
Justice Mohammed further said that the evidence of the witnesses of the anti-graft agency created a gap of doubts which must be resolved in favour of the defendant.
On February 3, 2017, operatives of the EFCC raided the Kaduna property of the former NNPC chief and recovered the sum of $9.8 million and £74,000 stashed in a fire-proof safe.
Yakubu was arraigned before Ahmed Mohammed, the judge, on March 16, 2017, on a six-count charge bordering on money laundering and false declaration of assets.
Upon filing a no-case submission, Mohammed had struck out two counts out of the six-count charge.
On appeal, another two counts were struck out by the court of appeal. The appellate court then ordered Yakubu to answer the remaining two counts before the trial court.
In July 2021, the supreme court dismissed an appeal filed by the former NNPC chief who was seeking the retrieval of his forfeited monies- making it the third time that this plea was rejected.