Skip to main content

Alleged N190m Fraud: Court Discharges Oronsaye

An FCT High Court, Maitama, on Tuesday discharged Steve Oronsaye, former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, of the N190 million corruption charges levelled against him.
Oronsaye was also the Chairman, Presidential Committee on Financial Action Task Force, set up by former President Goodluck Jonathan.
He was docked on a seven-count charge, bordering on breach of trust and diversion of N190 million meant for the committee he chaired.
The judge, Justice Olasumbo Goodluck, in her ruling on the no-case submission filed by Oronsaye, held that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against Oronsaye.
“There was contradictory evidence by the prosecution witnesses on whether the defendant was still the head of service as at the time he chaired the committee.
“The court seems to discredit the evidence, suffice it to say that there is no evidence linking the accused with the statutory element and ingredients of the offence with which he is charged.
“The court of trial must as a matter of law discharge him because it has no business scanting for evidence that is nowhere to be found.
“I have looked through the case and I am unable to see any justifications for this case.
“The defendant is hereby discharged“ she held.
The prosecution closed its case on November 15 after calling six witnesses to testify.
On December 9, the defence filed no-case submission, on the ground that the prosecution had no case against the defendant.
In his submission, the defence counsel Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN), argued that there were omissions of essential elements in the charges against his client.
He said on that account the charges were imperfect.
Agabi said that the charge was initially 2-count, later amended to 7-count.
The lawyer said that was a sign that something was wrong with the charge from the beginning.
He said that the prosecution did not specify the amount that was entrusted to the defendant, nor the mandate of the committee the defendant chaired.
Agabi also said that no evidence of personal use of the fund that the defendant was accused of misusing, but mere allegations.
He said that no offence proven by prosecution to warrant the defendant to enter defence and urged the court to grant his no-case submission.
Responding, the prosecuting counsel, Mr Offem Uket, told the court that the prosecution has proved its case, adding that the defendant should enter his defence.
Uket said that it was not right to bring up the issue of imperfection of charges now, as it was against the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, (ACJA) 2015.
He urged the court to dismiss the no- case submission.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Police arrest alleged mastermind of Benue massacre (photo)

Operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team have arrested the alleged mastermind of the killing of over 73 residents of Benue State. 40 year old Alhaji Laggi, pictured above, was arrested along with three others, namely, Mallam Muminini Abdullahi, Muhammed Adamu and Ibrahim Sule. The police say Laggi coordinated the January 1st massacre in two communities in Benue state. Over 70 persons were killed and have since been given a mass burial. Laggi and his accomplies were arrested in Tunga town in Nasarawa state on February 16th and 19th
Post a Comment
Read more

Horror as a whistle blower uncovers horrific abuse Chinese company in Aba allegedly subject their Nigerian staff to

                                     A whistleblower has exposed the horrific abuse and discrimination he allegedly uncovered in a Chinese company operating in Nigeria.   The Twitter user said the company located in at Umuahala, Obuzor Asa, in Ukwa West LGA of Abia State, is managed by Chinese while most of their workers are Nigerians.     However, he said the Nigerian staff are made to work under the most "dehumanizing conditions ever known to mankind".   He reported that every Nigerian staff is expected to call every Chinese staff "Master or Mistress".   He added that "male Nigerian workers are physically assaulted, while their female counterparts are sexually assaulted without any consequence."   When a Nigerian staff errs, the Chinese staff allegedly employ the services of Nigerian soldiers to discipline them mercilessly.    ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Special Forces unleashed on Boko Haram

                                  The Nigerian Army on Thursday said Special Forces Troops have been unleashed on Boko Haram Terrorists in series of clearance operations in Borno state leading to the killings of hundreds of the insurgents and the confiscation of their weapons. The troops made up of Nigerian Army Special Forces, the Nigerian Navy Special Forces as well as the Nigerian Air Force Special Forces, however, lost an officer and a soldier during the clearance operations. According to The Nigerian Army Spokesman, Brig. Gen Sani Usman, the operations which commenced December 28 last year ensure that several towns and villages were cleared of the remnants of the insurgents. Brig, Gen Usman said in a statement that among towns cleared were Zare, Gudumbali, Kukawa, and Cross Kauwa, while troops have also taken control of Baga and are now clearing the fringes of Lake Chad. He particularly ...
Post a Comment
Read more