BREAKING: Court strikes out money laundering charge against Atiku's son-in-law

By Bartholomew Madukwe

A Federal High Court, Lagos judicial division, on Monday, struck out a charge brought by the  Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), against the son-in-law to former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, Abdullahi Babalele, for being defective and disclosing no primafacie case. 

Abdullahi Babalele

Trial judge, Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke, while raising the issue of jurisdiction, held that the EFCC went forum- shopping when it filed the case at the Federal High Court, Lagos, instead of at Abeokuta, where the offence of allegedly paying the sum of $140,000.00 was said to have been committed.

According to the judge, the proper venue for the trial should have been Abeokuta and not Lagos.

"In the event that he was wrong on this score, and that it had jurisdiction to entertain the case, the No case submission filed and argued by the Babalele 's Counsel, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, succeeds in its entirety for the following reasons: 

"That the Prosecution failed woefully to prove any element of the offence charged, or adduce any evidence linking the Defendant with the offence charged.

"The Prosecution Witness-1 contradicted himself when he testified that he gave the said $140,000 to former President Olusegun Obasanjo in his house at Abeokuta, Ogun State, whereas in his written extra judicial which were admitted in court during trial, he had written that he gave the money to an unknown person at Obasanjo library, Ota" the judge maintained.

It was gathered that in a statement before the EFCC, while in his extra judicial statements, that were admitted in court during trial, the Prosecution Witness-1 wrote that he gave the money to an unknown person at Obasanjo Library. 

The court held that this was a material contradiction in the evidence presented by the prosecution. 

Abdullahi Babalele (left) and Atiku Abubakar

The court further held that PW-1 in his oral testimony in court testified that it was the Defendant that transferred the Naira equivalent to his bank accounts, but from the bank statements and under cross examination by defence counsel, Ozekhome, it was not the Defendant that transferred the said money to PW-1's accounts, but the said money was transferred by one Jamiu Amosu and Jaybid Global Services Ltd. 

Justice Aneke noted that no reason was proffered by the prosecution for this fundamental discrepancy in its case.

The court further held that the charge filed by EFCC against the Defendant was incompetent as the charge alleged that it was the Defendant (Babalele) that procured and aided PW-1 to make the said payment, without any scintilla of evidence to proof same. 

"There was also no evidence linking the said money transferred to PW-1, to any illicit transaction which is one of the cardinal grounds for a money laundering charge to be sustained, the court said and consequently discharged Babalele.