Ise-Oluwa Ige and Innocent Anaba
31 January 2008
Lagos — THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday withdrew the 14-count charge of money-laundering preferred against the immediate past Governor of Plateau State, Chief Joshua Dariye, at a Federal High Court, Abuja. The anti-graft agency gave no reason for the action.
Justice Babs Kuewumi, consequently struck out the charges, since the accused ex-governor did not object to the EFCC's request.
Chief Dariye was on July 16, 2007 arraigned before the same court on a 14-count charge of money-laundering. He was alleged to have laundered over N750 million. Most of the diversions were allegedly made from the state's share of the Ecological Fund.
Why case was withdrawn -EFCC
But EFCC spoke with newsmen yesterday on why the case was withdrawn against Dariye moments after the court rose. According to the commission's counsel, Mr Adebisi Adeniyi, who announced the withdrawal of the charge against Dariye in court, the position of the commission was informed by the need for the prosecution to concentrate on a separate charge preferred against Dariye at the Abuja High Court sitting at Gudu.
"We have since realised that we will use the same set of documents and witnesses to prosecute the two cases. We feel it will be neater and tidier to withdraw one so as to concentrate on the other. We have agreed to withdraw the one here because the charge preferred against the accused person before the Abuja High Court is more comprehensive than the one filed here. In fact, the one before the Abuja High Court accommodates all that is here," he said.
Dariye hails EFCC
Lead counsel to Dariye, Chief Pius Akubo (SAN), hailed the decision by the EFCC to withdraw the charge against his client. He said he had severally maintained that the two suits maintained against Dariye touching on the same subject-matter and offence constituted an abuse of court process.
"I can say today that the promise by this government to live by strict adherence to the rule of law is paying off gradually. If the case had not been withdrawn, we would have been subjected to double jeopardy. We commend the EFCC for the bold step it has taken," Akubo said.
Dariye had said there was no truth in the allegations levelled at him and government had asked for a date to open its case against him.
Some of the charges against Dariye were:
•That you Joshua Chibi Dariye in Abuja did transfer N180 million belonging to the Plateau State Government to buy property in London, an act punishable under section 14 (b) of the money laundering (prohibition) act of 2004".
•That you Joshua Chibi Dariye did transfered N5 million from the All States Trust Bank for the purchase of the landed property.
Dariye had also petitioned President Umaru Yar'Adua over alleged short-fall in the money returned to the Federal Government by the British authorities from the money he allegedly looted.
He had also alleged in the petition that the British government's return to Nigeria of N29.3 million allegedly seized from him was under-declared to the tune of N741 million Dariye accused the London Metropolitan Police and the EFCC lawyers, Kendal Freeman Solicitors, London, of misappropriating the recovered loot.
The British government had presented two cheques worth N29.3 million to the Nigerian government as part of the loot money recovered from Dariye.Dariye in the petition dated September 28, 2007 and entitled "Petition Against the Unlawful Appropriation of My Assets," alleged that the sum of N29.3 million handed over to the Federal Government was far less than what was seized from him in London.
He asked President Yar'Adua to order investigation into the matter in the sprit of the rule of law and due process agenda of his administration.
He had said: "I write this humble petition to Your Excellency, therefore, to put the facts before you concerning the unlawful methods that have been utilised in the United Kingdom in order to seize assets in the total value of over £2,961,560.00 (two million, nine hundred and sixty-one thousand pounds sterling) which is the equivalent of N770,056.000. 00 (seven hundred and seventy million, fifty six thousand naira) now apparently misappropriated and dissipated by the EFCC, its agent, the London Metropolitan Police or its lawyers, Kendal Freeman Solicitors London, if all that is now being handed over is a mere N29.3 million."
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Who will go and get the rest back from the british courts!