A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Tuesday discharged and acquitted a former Head of Service (HoS) of the Federation, Winifred Oyo-Ita, and her co-defendants of money laundering offences filed against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The trial judge, Justice 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.

For the past six years, Oyo-Ita, her personal assistant, Ubong Effiok, and seven others had been facing money laundering charges totalling N570 million.

Justice Omotosho, in the ruling, held that the case brought by the EFCC against the former HoS and her co-defendants “was built on the quicksand of speculation, suspicion and shoddy investigation”.

“I must say here that the case presented by the prosecution has no weight whatsoever,” the judge ruled, adding that “crucial elements of money laundering offences, which include the establishment of a predicate offence, were glaringly absent in the case presented by the prosecution”.

The judge held that Mrs Oyo-Ita, who was the first defendant in the 18-count charge, was neither a shareholder nor a director in the companies allegedly linked to her.

He also held that the monies allegedly given to the former HoS by the third and fifth prosecution witnesses had not been shown to be proceeds of illegal activity, noting that “those contracts were duly approved and executed, as confirmed by the seventh and ninth prosecution witnesses”.

“Even the estacodes, Duty Tour Allowances (DTAs) and air tickets paid by PW4 to the seventh defendant (Ubong Effiok) for the benefit of the first defendant (Oyo-Ita) have also been shown to have been duly approved, and the first defendant was not an approving authority,” he held.

The judge said her alleged failure to fully disclose her assets was also not thoroughly investigated, resulting in a case that was bound to fail.

“In final analysis, the no-case submissions filed by the first, second and third defendants on the one hand, and the fourth to the sixth defendants, as well as 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,” Justice Omotosho ruled.

It would be recalled that the anti-graft agency, on 28 February 2020, filed an 18-count charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/20/2020 against Mrs Oyo-Ita and her co-defendants, namely: Frontline Ace Global Services Ltd, Asanaya Projects Ltd, Garba Umar, Slopes International Ltd, Gooddeal Investments Ltd, Ubong Okon Effiok and U & U Global Services Ltd.

The defendants were prosecuted for alleged fraud relating to DTAs, estacodes, conference fees and receiving kickbacks on contracts amounting to N570 million.

In count one, 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, of which she was alleged to be the sole signatory to 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 true ownership of N20 million paid by the ministry into the Frontline Ace Zenith Bank account (No. 1011518656), which was said to have been derived from an illegal act, an offence 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), where they pleaded not guilty to the 18-count charge. The case was later reassigned to Justice Omotosho following 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 filed no-case submissions.

They argued that the prosecution had failed to establish any element of the offences beyond a reasonable doubt to warrant a defence, maintaining that no prima facie case had been made against them. (Nigerian Tribune)