EFCC drops corruption charges against Diezani, others
TODAY AT 10:37 AM | PULSE NIGERIA | DAMILARE FAMUYIWA
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The fund allegedly concealed by Diezani, and others, was said to be collection from oil companies and allegedly to fund the presidential campaign of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Goodluck Jonathan. [Daily Post]
The EFCC had in a 14-count charge accused Diezani, bank executives and NNPC officials of conspiring to conceal $153 million in Fidelity bank.
If a report by Daily Trust is anything to go by, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has dropped all 14 count charges against Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke.
The EFCC was also said to have dropped the charges against Ben Otti, Nnamdi Okonkwo, Stanley Lawson, Lanre Adesanya, and Dauda Lawal, all of whom are former officials of commercial banks and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
A source who's familiar with the $153 million transaction, said Dauda Lawal, who's a former Executive Director of First Bank, had no contact with Diezani and was only acting on the instruction of a customer. [Sahara Reporters]
The former minister has also been holed up in the United Kingdom, where she faces a separate probe for alleged bribery, corruption and money laundering.
At the resumed hearing of the matter before Justice Muslim Hassan of a Federal High Court Lagos on November 5, 2019, the anti-graft agency through its lawyer, Rotimi Oyedepo dropped the corruption charges against most of the accused persons, including Diezani, through an amended four-count charge.
The amended charges which border on money laundering, now only seeks to prosecute a former Executive Director of First Bank Plc, alongside Diezani and Ben, who served as Group Executive Director of finance at the NNPC.
Madueke and Ben Otti have both reportedly been at large since the beginning of the matter which was first filed in Court on November 28, 2018.
Similarly, Nnamdi, Stanley, and Lanre, all did not make any appearance in court and have not been arraigned.
In what appeared like a twist at the resumed hearing of the matter, a source close to Dauda, who noted that the former Executive Director of First Bank did not fail to appear in court in all adjourned dates of the matter, was shocked that all other accused persons have been exonerated.
The matter before the court
The EFCC had in the 14 count-charge accused the bank executives and the NNPC officials of conspiring to conceal $153 million in Fidelity bank, which they ought to have known were proceeds of corruption punishable under the Money Laundering Act.
In 2015, the EFCC discovered that the $153 million was deposited, to allegedly fund the presidential second term campaign of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
The matter was investigated by the EFCC and the bankers were alleged to have conspired with Diezani and other NNPC officials to conceal and distribute parts of the fund.
Lawal who was an Executive Director of First bank, was accused of assisting Diezani to purchase a property, Merdien Hotel Ogeyi Palace in Port Harcourt, when he received $25 million from Fidelity Bank and deposited the same amount with Sterling Bank, allegedly on the instruction of Stanley.
The source who's familiar with the transaction, stated it is pathetic that Dauda, who had no contact with Diezani and was only acting on the instruction of a customer can be charged for conspiracy, while those who were alleged to be directly linked to the funds have been exonerated.
Although, when contacted for comments, EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren said he is not aware of the matter
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Sango was a royal ancestor of the Yoruba as he was the third king of the Oyo Kingdom. He succeeded Ajaka, son of Oranmiyan. His symbol is a double-headed axe, which represents swift and balanced justice. Mythologically, he (and 14 others) burst forth from the goddess Yemaja’s body after her son, Orungan, attempted to rape her for the second time. In another set of stories, Sango is the son of Aganju and Obatala. As the story goes, Obatala, the king of the white cloth was travelling and had to cross a river. Aganju, the ferryman and god of fire, refused him passage so Obatala retreated and turned into a woman and traded his/her body for passage (this would later become a conspiracy theory about homosexuality existing even in the days of old). This tension between reason represented by Obatala and Aganju would form the foundation of Sango’s particular character and nature. Sango was said to have went in search of Aganju on which he had to throw himself into a lake of burning fire...
![The fund allegedly concealed by Diezani, and others, was said to be collection from oil companies and allegedly to fund the presidential campaign of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Goodluck Jonathan. [Daily Post]](https://ocdn-eu.cdn.ampproject.org/i/s/ocdn.eu/images/pulscms/OTk7MDA_/04b8853313c06c8e76c0d3b862802557.jpeg)
![A source who's familiar with the $153 million transaction, said Dauda Lawal, who's a former Executive Director of First Bank, had no contact with Diezani and was only acting on the instruction of a customer. [Sahara Reporters]](https://ocdn-eu.cdn.ampproject.org/i/s/ocdn.eu/images/pulscms/ZjU7MDA_/06044b2d18d63979d2a06c4c574236ab.jpg)
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