A Federal High Court
siting in Abuja on Friday discharged and acquitted former Speaker of the House
of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole of any complicity in a 16-count charge
brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The former Speaker
was standing trial on a 16 criminal count charge of contract inflation and
fraudulent embezzlement of public funds.
The court presided
over by Justice Evoh Stephen Chukwu held that based on the testimonies of the
six witnesses called by the prosecution, the former Speaker was not associated
with any wrong doing in the processes leading to the award of the said
contracts to justify his being called to enter his defence in the trial.
He further held that
the prosecution failed to prove the essential ingredients to justify the charge
where the former Speaker was alleged to have colluded with others as covered by
counts 3, 6, 9, 12, 13 and 14 of the charge, noting that collusion conotes an
agreement to commit a crime which was not shown by the prosecution witnesses in
thheir testimonies.
“From the totality
of the six witnesses, nothing shows any act of collusion on the part of the
accused person. Nothing shows that he interfered with the process of the award
of the contracts. No mention about anybody fronting for him was made by the
prosecution witnesses and the process was also said to have complied with the
requirements. Based on the totality of these witnesses’ testimonies, I hold
that there is nothing to justify his being called to enter his defence as none
of the essential ingredients have been proved by the prosecution,” the court
ruled.
The court thereafter
discharged and acquitted the former Speaker of all the charges.
This is the second
time the former Speaker will be discharged and acquitted having received
similar verdict before an Abuja High Court where he was arraigned for allegedly
obtaining illegal loans totaling about N9 billion for the House of
Representatives while at the helm of affairs