The Federal High Court in Abuja has discharged and acquitted former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke (SAN), of money laundering charges brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Presiding judge Justice Inyang Ekwo, in delivering the ruling on a no-case submission filed by Adoke, stated that the EFCC failed to establish a prima facie case against him. Justice Ekwo stated, “I find that there is no evidence to prove the alleged offences against the first defendant (Adoke).”
However, the judge ruled differently for the second defendant, Aliyu Abubakar, an oil mogul, stating that Abubakar must open his defense as he has a case to answer.
The charges brought by the EFCC against Adoke and Abubakar included an allegation that Adoke accepted a cash payment equivalent to $300 million in August 2013 in Abuja from Abubakar, thereby violating section 16(2)(b) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2011 as amended.
