The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has again appealed the acquittal of a former Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, for money laundering.
The commission arraigned Ikuforiji alongside his former aide, Oyebode Atoyebi, for alleged money laundering to the tune of N338.8 million.
They were arraigned on a 54-count charge of money laundering and other allied offences.
However, Justice Mohammed Liman of the Federal High Court, Lagos, discharged the former speaker on the charges on June 24 this year.
Dissatisfied with the judgment, EFCC has filed a notice of appeal challenging the judgment.
The prosecutor, Ekene Ihenacho (SAN), who filed the appeal on behalf of EFCC, argued that the lower court erred in law when it held that the count one did not present a potential legal issue.
He insisted that the trial judge erred in law by holding that prosecution’s case hinged on transactions that purportedly exceeded the thresholds of N500,000/N5 million for individuals, and N2 million/10 million for corporate entities under the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act of 2004 and 2011.
Ihenacho pointed out that the lower court ignored the evidence presented by the prosecutor which showed that the respondents made and accepted cash payments above the prescribed thresholds.
However, no date has been fixed for the hearing of the appeal.
Ikuforiji and Atoyebi were first arraigned on March 1, 2012, before Justice Okechukwu Okeke of the same court in Lagos.
They were arraigned on a 20-count charge of financial misappropriation and money laundering.
The duo pleaded not guilty to the charges and were both granted bail
They were later re-arraigned before Justice Ibrahim Buba following the re-assignment of the case.
Buba granted them bail in the sum of N500 million each with sureties in like sum.
However, the judge in a ruling delivered on September 26, 2014, discharged Ikuforiji and his aide on the charges after upholding their no-case submissions.
He held that the EFCC failed to establish a prima facie case against them.
Dissatisfied with the ruling, the EFCC through its counsel, Mr. Godwin Obla (SAN), filed a notice of appeal dated September 30, 2014, challenging Buba’s decision.
Obla argued that the trial court erred in law when it held that the counts were incompetent because they were filed under Section 1(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2004 which was repealed by an Act of 2011.
