A Federal Capital Territory High Court has cleared Mr. Babachir Lawal, a former secretary to the government of the federation, and five other defendants of the N544M Contract Fraud accusation that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had brought against them (EFCC).
The anti-graft agency, according to the court, was unable to prove its case against the co-defendants and the former SGF.
Justice Charles Agbaza ruled on Babachir Lawal’s no-case motion, finding that the EFCC had claimed that none of the 11 witnesses who testified on its behalf had established any elements of any offence.
The judge ruled that the EFCC had not proven Babachir Lawal to have been a member of either the Presidential Initiative for the North East, which awarded the contract, or the Ministerial Tenders Board, which examined and approved the challenged deal.
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Justice Agbaza further ruled that the EFCC had failed to connect Babachir Lawal to the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), which had granted a certificate of no objection to the contract prior to its award.
Due to a lack of evidence connecting the defendants to the alleged offences, the judge dismissed and exonerated everyone in the 10-count criminal case against them.
The EFCC brought charges against Babachir Lawal before Justice Charles Agbaza together with his younger brother, Hamidu Lawal; Suleiman Abubakar; Apeh Monday; and two corporations.
They were charged with a 10-count fraud-related charge involving the removal of evasive plant species worth N544 million, to which they entered a not guilty plea.
On November 30, 2020, the EFCC re-arrested Babachir Lawal, the former secretary to the government of the federation, in front of Justice Agbaza.
