Kelvin Bowoto
Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court has set March 7 to hear a motion filed by former Anambra State governor Willie Obiano contesting the court’s jurisdiction to hear the alleged N4 billion fraud accusation filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Obiano was charged on January 24 with nine counts of alleged money laundering totaling N4 billion.
The former governor has pleaded not guilty to the accusations filed against him. During yesterday’s hearing, Obiano’s counsel, Mr. Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), informed the court that he had filed an application to challenge jurisdiction on behalf of his client. Mr. Sylvanus Tahir (SAN), counsel for the EFCC, stated that he had yet to file a response because he was served with the motion on Monday morning in court. Furthermore, Tahir stated that the Supreme Court had resolved the problem of jurisdiction, ruling that once the case touched on money laundering, the Federal High Court had inherent authority to try it. The trial judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo, advised the prosecutor to respond to the motion.
“It is not your responsibility to inform the court of the Supreme Court’s ruling on the subject. Respond to the motion and let the court decide.” Obiano allegedly siphoned money from the state’s account designated for security funds in his last five years in office.
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According to the accusations, he reportedly directed the diversion of N4 billion from the state’s account between April 2017 and March 2022 and used the money for reasons unrelated to Anambra’s security concerns.
According to the EFCC, the monies were diverted through firms that had no business link with the Anambra State government, converted to dollars, and delivered to the former governor in dollars. The EFCC case outlined the nine companies accused of stealing money from the state government’s security vote account.
Each of the nine counts detailed how much money a corporation got from the state government’s account and when it did so. The EFCC claimed in count one of the allegations that between February 16, 2018, and March 9, 2018, an aggregate sum of N223,371,000 was transferred from the security vote account to Connought International Services Limited’s account. In count 2, the anti-graft agency claimed that a total of N95 million was transferred from the security vote account to S.Y. Panda Enterprises’ bank account between October 30, 2018, and November 13, 2018.
Techrectory with Agency Report.
