Appeal Court reserves judgment in Shekarau, Aminu Wali’s alleged N950m fraud

Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau

The Court of Appeal in Kano on Thursday reserved judgement in an interlocutory appeal filed by a former governor of Kano State, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau challenging the ruling of the Federal High Court in Kano which upheld that EFCC has a case against him regarding a N950 million election fraud linked to him and two others.

Mallam Shekarau, who was arraigned alongside a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Aminu Bashir Wali and Mansur Ahmad, appealed the ruling of Justice Lewis Allagoa of the Federal High Court Kano which overruled no case submission of the three defendants and ordered them to open their defence.

It would be recalled that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has established a prima facie case of alleged money laundering to the tune of N950 million against the former governor and former minister of Foreign Affairs in the Kano Federal High Court.

Recall that Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau was arraigned alongside Aminu Bashir Wali and Mansur Ahmad on May 24, 2018, for allegedly collecting the sum of N950 million from the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Deziani Alison Maduekwe to distribute to PDP members in Kano during the 2015 presidential election.

However, the court upheld that the counsel to EFCC established a prima facie case of alleged money laundering to the tune of N950 million against the three defendants.

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Not happy with the court pronouncement, Mallam Shekarau and two other defendants appealed the ruling of Justice Allagoa which was delivered on the 23 September 2019.

At the resumed hearing on Thursday at the Court of Appeal, Kano Division, counsel to the appellants, Adamu Fagge argued that there was no case of money laundering, stressing that Aminu Wali received the money through a financial institution.

Fagge then prayed the court to dismiss the ruling of the Federal High Court Kano in his submission in the point of law.

However, counsel to EFCC, C.O Ugoh said there were irregularities in the transaction between the bank and the Aminu Wali, stating that due process was not observed, urging the court to dismiss the appeal and affirm the ruling of the Federal High Court, Kano.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

Paul Omorogbe