A Federal High Court Judge in Abuja, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba has fixed May 27, 2019 to rule on the $40 million fraud case brought against Robert Azibaola, cousin to former President Goodluck Jonathan by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
In a post on its
facebook page dated March 29, the EFCC said Azibaola and his company, One Plus Holdings, are facing a
two-count charge bordering on money laundering, criminal breach of trust and
corruption. They are alleged to have received $40 million from the Office of
the National Security Adviser, ONSA, during the tenure of Col. Sambo Dasuki
(retd) without any contract agreement.
The statement read in part “The EFCC had on June 7, 2016 charged Azibaola, his
wife, Stella, and the company to court on an amended nine-count charge
bordering on money laundering, criminal breach of trust and corruption. They
had pleaded ‘not guilty’ to the charges, which subsequently resulted in the
commencement of their trial
“After the EFCC through its counsel, Sylvanus Tahir, closed the case of the
prosecution on January 23, 2017, calling 10 witnesses and tendering several
documents, the defence filed a “no-case” submission, on March 19, 2018
“Ruling on the application, Justice Dimgba sustained two of the nine counts,
and held that there was no prima facie case established against Stella.
“Subsequently, Azibaola and One Plus were ordered to open their defence on the
remaining two counts, as Stella’s name was struck off the charge sheet.
“He thereafter took to the dock to testify in his defence, and denied diverting
money to his personal use,” the statement added.
On February 6, 2019 his defence team led by Chris Uche, SAN, closed its
defence, after calling two witnesses, including Azibaola, and presented several
documents.
At the resumed sitting, both parties adopted their final written addresses,
before Justice Dimgba adjourned to May 27, 2019 for “judgement”.