Justice A.A. Fashola of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory has discharged and acquitted an Abuja developer, Princess Carol Ngozi, the Chief Executive Director of Carolina Luxury Homes Ltd and her company, of 30 count fraud charge filed against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The trial judge held that the EFCC failed to make out a prima facie case against the defendants. Consequently, the court declared the defendants “not guilty of fraud” and discharged and acquitted them.
The court held: “Pursuant to Section 302 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, this honourable court holds the view that the prosecution failed to make out a prima facie case against the defendants. Consequently, this honourable court hereby records a finding of not guilty in respect of the defendants herein. The two defendants are hereby discharged and acquitted.”
The defendants were initially arraigned before Justice Hamza Muazu in 2021 and were rearraigned on March 16, 2023 before Justice Fashola on a 30 count fraud charge to the tune of N31.8million. The EFCC filed the charge on August, 5, 2021.
The duo pleaded not guilty to the charge and their trial commenced.
Although the EFCC listed 41 witnesses to testify in the case, only one showed up.
The only witness could not tender any documentary evidence to prove the allegation of fraud against the defendants.
The matter was adjourned severally to enable the prosecution continue with trial, but the EFCC failed to appear in court for the trial and could also not produce a single evidence against the defendants.
In flagrant abuse of state power, the EFCC had detained the first defendant for 14 days despite that the allegation was a bailable offense.
The Commission also hurriedly published the defendant’s picture and the false allegation in the national dailies just to embarrass the first defendant, who is a highly reputable individual.
The judgment has been applauded by several organizations and individuals who accused the EFCC of abuse of state power.
“What the EFCC simply did was to embarrass the first defendant. It was very clear that it took the EFCC several years to look for evidence to nail the defendants but could not find any. This is a clear case of abuse of state power and the authorities should stem the tide”, a legal practitioner said.
Also, the Mission for Peace and Development Initiative, a civil society organization based in Abuja, FCT has commended the judgment, stating that it has “rekindled the faith of Nigerias in the judiciary and has affirmed that indeed, the judiciary is the last hope of a common man”
In a statement issued by the Director of Publicity, Ogah Columba, the organisation commended the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory for upholding its responsibility as the last hope of the common man.
“It is disheartening to witness a government agency such as the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) engage in what we may term ‘lawfare’ to use legal systems to intimidate, harass and literally oppress innocent citizens for obnoxious reasons that were not the reason for its formation.
“The case was to us an abuse of process as the EFCC resorted to utilising criminal charges it was unable to substantiate to harass an innocent citizen.”
According to the MPDI, “From the judgment, we found that though the EFCC listed 41 witnesses accompanying the charge, only one could show up and even the one that appeared in court could not tender any documentary evidence in support of the charge.
The EFCC also wasted the time of the court by failing to appear in court to continue with the trial despite several adjournments.
The commission also failed to produce the 40 other witnesses it listed, despite that it took it almost two years before the defendants were properly arraigned after the criminal charge was filed in court.
“This to us is a clear case of abuse of power by the EFCC and also a waste of scarce government resources. The EFCC should refrain from this abuse of state power and stick to its core mandates.
“Our interest in this matter was that our organization was fully aware of the matter from the onset and we were aware of the innocence of the accused persons. The first defendant was illegally detained by the EFCC for 14 days and was made to suffer a ‘lawfare’ for five years in ways that adversely affected her dignity and her business both locally and international,” the organisation added.
