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| Ikuforiji |
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said that it would appeal
against the verdict of the Federal High Court which acquitted the Speaker of
the Lagos State house of Assembly, Mr. Adeyemi Ikuforiji and one of his aides,
Oyebode Atoyebi on Friday.
The Lagos Speaker and Atoyebi had
been facing prosecution on a 54 count of alleged money laundering to the tune
of N603 million.
The Head of Media and Publicity of
the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said in an electronic mail on Friday that the
EFCC was not satisfied with the ruling of the court as it had proof of evidence
that the accused persons committed acts in violation of the Money Laundering to
the tune of N338.8.
“The learned judge erred in this
ruling. The proof of evidence to the charge clearly showed that the provisions
of the Money Laundering Act had been violated by the accused persons in receiving
various cash payments from the assembly amounting to about N338.8 million.” The
statement read in part.
The statement quoted Justice Buba of
the Lagos High Court as having ruled that the prosecution failed to prove its
case against the accused person.
The presiding Judge was said to have
described the ruling as ‘anachronistic’ on the ground the prosecution
‘misconstrued and mis-interpreted the Money Laundering Act.’
It was stated that Ikuforiji’s lead
Counsel, Wole Olanipekun (SAN) had urged the court to ignore the charges
against his client on the premise that the Money Laundering Act of 2004 with
which the accused persons were charged had been “replaced with the money
Laundering Act, 2011 and should not have been used in charging him.”
Counsel to the second accused, Tunde
Akinbidi was said to have aligned his position with that of Olanikpekun, which
was upheld by the presiding judge who discharged and acquitted the duo.
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