The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, says it will appeal the judgment of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja which quashed the money laundering charges instituted against Andrew Yakubu, former group managing director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC).
THE WHISTLER earlier reported that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had sued Yakubu over $9, 772, 800 (9.7 million dollars) and £74, 000 recovered from his residence in 2017.
The anti-graft agency alleged that the monies were found in cash contrary to the money laundering act.
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Yakubu had said that the monies were given him by friends and associates.
But in his judgment on Thursday, Justice Ahmed Mohammed held that the prosecution failed to prove its allegations beyond reasonable doubt.
The judge while discharging and acquitting the defendant, said that the EFCC should have probed the people Yakubu claimed to have received the monies from to guarantee that they were proceeds of crime.
But the EFCC in its reaction to the judgment, said it believe that the unfavorable judgment was an error.
The statement reads:
“Yakubu was arraigned by the Commission in March 2017 following the discovery of $9.8million stashed in his property located in the Sabon Tasha Suburb of Kaduna. He had pleaded not guilty upon arraignment. In the course of trial, the Commission called witnesses and tendered documents in evidence, but the defendant filed a no case submission. Based on the submission, the court struck out two of the six counts. Two further counts were chalked off upon appeal by the defendant while the appellate court ordered his continued trial on the remaining two counts.
“However the Commission believes the trial judge erred in dismissing the charge and has resolved to test the ruling at the appellate court.”