A Prosecutor with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Bilikisu Bala, yesterday, told a Joint Committee of the House of Representatives investigating allegations of corruption against some officers of the Commission, and the Nigeria Correctional Service that charges of money laundering dropped in the trial of Idris Okuneye (a.k.a Bobrisky) were lawful and in compliance with the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.
The EFCC disclosed this in a statement yesterday narrating the address of the prosecutor to the House Committee.
Bala, head of the prosecution team that handled the trial of Okuneye pointed out to the Committee that the charges were dropped based on the disclosure of the Special Control Unit against Money Laundering (SCUML) that Okunenye’s firm, Bob Express, was not a Designated Non-Financial Institution, Business and Profession (DNFIBP) and could not be prosecuted for flouting provisions of the Money Laundering Prevention & Prohibition Act, 2022.
“We initially raised six count charges bordering on Naira Abuse and Money Laundering against Okuneye based on his confessional statement that his firm, Bob Express, was not registered with SCUML and was not rendering returns to it.
“Counts 1-4 were on Naira Abuse while counts five and six were on money laundering. Okuneye’s confession that he didn’t register his firm, Bob Express with SCUML and not rendering returns to it informed the money laundering charges initially included in the six count charges.
“However, when we wrote to SCUML on the status of the firm, the Unit responded that it was not a Designated Non-Financial Institution, Business and Profession, DNFIBP. We cannot lawfully sustain the charges in all sincerity. We, therefore dropped them and relied on the four counts on Naira mutilation to which Okuneye had pleaded guilty,” she said.
The prosecutor dismissed claims of financial inducement in dropping charges, maintaining that no such thing happened.
“There is simply no basis for that. The Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, allows amendment of charges. It is a professional practice. It is laughable for anyone to attribute our decision to monetary issues. Why did we write to SCUML if we didn’t want to include the charges? We wrote to be lawfully guided and when the Unit responded that the firm had not breached any law, on what basis should we have retained the money laundering charges?” she said.
Bala, who appeared before the Committee with top management staff of the EFCC, charged the Committee to critically look into all the issues raised against the EFCC and make public its findings in the interest of justice.
Chief of Staff to the EFCC’s Chairman, Commander of the EFCC, CE Michael Nzekwe who stood for the Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, restated the seriousness the Commission attached to integrity of its staff.
“We viewed the allegation of bribery against our officers seriously. Integrity is one of our core values. This is why we are here to place all the facts involved in the trial of Okuneye in the public domain”, he said.
Okuneye, who was convicted for naira abuse, had alleged in a viral video that he offered N15 million as a bribe to some unnamed EFCC officers to drop money laundering charges against him.
