Babalakin, others want N4.7bn fraud case dismissed
The Chairman of Bi-Courtney Limited, Wale Babalakin, and four others have asked a Lagos State High Court in Ikeja to dismiss the N4.7bn fraud charges levelled against them.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had charged Babalakin, Alex Okoh and their companies to court for allegedly aiding a convicted former Governor of Delta State, James Ibori, to divert public funds into foreign accounts.
At the resumed trial before Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo on Monday, one of their lawyers, Wale Akoni (SAN), brought an application seeking to quash the 27 counts of conspiracy and retention of public proceeds levelled against them.
Akoni, in his submission, contested the competence of the suit by arguing that the charges brought against his clients were deficient in substance and ran foul of the constitution.
Akoni argued that Section 98 of the Criminal Code of Lagos State, 2003, under which his clients were charged, dealt with only public officers.
He contended that Ibori, on behalf of whom the defendants allegedly transferred the N4.7bn, was not defined by the law as a public officer.
Akoni argued that persons occupying elected public offices were not contemplated by both the Criminal Code and the Constitution as public officers, adding that his clients could not be sued under Section 98 of the Criminal Code.
He said, “For a valid charge to be brought under Section 98(a), the existence of a public officer on the account of whose action or inaction or omission this property was corruptly conferred must be disclosed.
“My Lord, it is our submission that there is no pubic officer disclosed on the face of the charge on account of whose action any benefit was conferred.
“The mention of the Delta State Government does not help matters either; the Delta State Government is not a public office or official, as defined by Section 98(d) of the Criminal Code.
“Even if James Ibori were any other person, the failure to disclose the public officer on account of whose action or inaction James Ibori received the benefit makes the charge incompetent, invalid and unconstitutional.
“My Lord, the question is: Who is this public officer? Where is this public officer? All these are not on the face of the charge.
“My Lord, what we now have is a situation where the accused persons were brought into the charge blindly.”
The case was adjourned till October 30, 2014, for the EFCC to respond to the defendants’ prayers to quash the charges and set them free.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had charged Babalakin, Alex Okoh and their companies to court for allegedly aiding a convicted former Governor of Delta State, James Ibori, to divert public funds into foreign accounts.
At the resumed trial before Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo on Monday, one of their lawyers, Wale Akoni (SAN), brought an application seeking to quash the 27 counts of conspiracy and retention of public proceeds levelled against them.
Akoni, in his submission, contested the competence of the suit by arguing that the charges brought against his clients were deficient in substance and ran foul of the constitution.
Akoni argued that Section 98 of the Criminal Code of Lagos State, 2003, under which his clients were charged, dealt with only public officers.
He contended that Ibori, on behalf of whom the defendants allegedly transferred the N4.7bn, was not defined by the law as a public officer.
Akoni argued that persons occupying elected public offices were not contemplated by both the Criminal Code and the Constitution as public officers, adding that his clients could not be sued under Section 98 of the Criminal Code.
He said, “For a valid charge to be brought under Section 98(a), the existence of a public officer on the account of whose action or inaction or omission this property was corruptly conferred must be disclosed.
“My Lord, it is our submission that there is no pubic officer disclosed on the face of the charge on account of whose action any benefit was conferred.
“The mention of the Delta State Government does not help matters either; the Delta State Government is not a public office or official, as defined by Section 98(d) of the Criminal Code.
“Even if James Ibori were any other person, the failure to disclose the public officer on account of whose action or inaction James Ibori received the benefit makes the charge incompetent, invalid and unconstitutional.
“My Lord, the question is: Who is this public officer? Where is this public officer? All these are not on the face of the charge.
“My Lord, what we now have is a situation where the accused persons were brought into the charge blindly.”
The case was adjourned till October 30, 2014, for the EFCC to respond to the defendants’ prayers to quash the charges and set them free.
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