After about five years of legal battle, the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Thursday, discharged and acquitted the former Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Andrew Yakubu, of the $9.8 million money laundering charge filed against him by the Federal Government.
The trial Judge, Justice Ahmed Mohammed, said the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), prosecuting Andrew Yakubu on behalf of the Federal Government could not prove beyond reasonable doubts, as required by law, the ingredients of the alleged offences in count three and four which the Court of Appeal had ordered the defendant to answer, beyond reasonable doubts as required by law.
Justice Mohammed agreed with Yakubu that the hard currencies found at his Kaduna residence were from gifts and donations from friends and well-wishers after he retired as NNPC GMD.
The court held that the money was not collected in bulk but in tranches, adding that part of the amount was from his savings from his official foreign trips while he was in office.
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