EFCC wants ex-gov of Kogi State Audu over alleged N4b fraud

HAVING failed to frustrate his trial over an alleged N4 billion fraud, former Kogi State governor Abubakar Audu resorted to fleeing his home Tuesday.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is seeking the arrest of Audu over his complicity in the stealing of N4 billion of Kogi State during his tenure as governor. The attempts of some operatives of the commission to arrest Audu Tuesday were unsuccessful as he allegedly fled his residence at No. 32, Suleiman Barau Street, Aso Villa, Asokoro, Abuja.

An electronic statement released by EFCC’s Head of Media, Wilson Uwujaren, explained that the effort to arrest the former governor was sequel to the failure of Audu’s bid to quash the charge against him at the Supreme Court.

Uwujaren’s statement read thus: “The attempted arrest of the former governor who is being tried for fraudulently enriching himself to the tune of over N4 billion while he was governor of Kogi State between 1999 and 2003, followed a Supreme Court ruling of November 23, 2012, which dismissed the former governor’s appeal to continue to protract his corruption trial by EFCC. The Supreme Court ruling therefore clears the way for his fresh arraignment.”

Audu was arrested in Jos in 2006 after a six-month manhunt by operatives of the commission, before his earlier arraignment at the Kogi State High Court on December 1, 2006, on an 80 criminal count charge of conspiracy, fraud, criminal breach of trust and embezzlement of public funds.

The EFCC had, while the case lasted at the high court, caused the issuance of nolle prosequi by the former Attorney-General of Kogi State, Dr. John Alewo Agbonika and the Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Bayo Ojo on February 8, 2007 for the case to be discontinued at the Kogi State High Court as the commission claimed to have lost faith in the handling of the matter by the State High Court.

“In my capacity as the AG of Kogi State in collaboration with the AG of the Federation and by virtue of the power vested in me by Section 211 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 and Section 253 of the CPC and all the powers enabling me in that behalf, I, Dr. John Alewo Agbonika hereby inform this honourable court that I no longer intend to continue the prosecution of this case in collaboration with the AG of the Federation to whom I had given a fiat to prosecute this case,” Agbonika said.
However, rather than discontinue the matter in the spirit of the nolle prosequi (a notice of discontinuance of a case or charge), the trial judge, Justice Medupin, proceeded with it by further referring two questions to the Court of Appeal for determination.

In a judgment delivered by Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour, the apex court held that the Court of Appeal was wrong to consider the questions referred to it for determination after being aware from the records of appeal that a nolle prosequi had been filed.
“This is so because there is/was nothing before the trial court, so there would be nothing for the Court of Appeal to send back. It amounted to an academic exercise for the Court of Appeal to waste judicial time considering questions from a case that is no longer in existence. There was no longer live issue to be considered by the Court of Appeal in view of the nolle prosequi filed in the trial court,” the Supreme Court ruled.