Matilda Omonaiye/
Justice John Tsoho, of a Federal High Court Abuja, has dismissed a preliminary objection filed by Aliyu Usman, an associate to a former National Security Adviser, Col Sambo Dasuki (retd), objecting to the N600 million four-count charge on money laundering offence brought against him by the EFCC.
Usman was initially arraigned along with Nuru Yahaya and two companies – Leaderettehe Nigeria Limited and Nordeen Global Resources, on October 5, 2017, for a six-count charge of money laundering contrary to Section 15 (2) (d) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 as amended.
Prosecuting counsel, Offem Uket, had on March 19, 2018, brought before the court two motions – to amend the charge and to prosecute Usman alone while dropping the names of Yahaya and the two companies.
The trial judge had granted the application for Usman to be arraigned on the amended charges, as the defence raised no objections.
Usman pleaded “not guilty” to the charges.
Counsel for Usman, Mohammed Monguno, on March 28, 2018, however, filed a preliminary objection to the amended four-count charge challenging its justification on the grounds that there was “no evidence linking the defendant to the alleged money laundering charges”.
He raised three issues: “Breach of due process due to amended charges; Incompetence of the investigations of the EFCC and no evidence to form a nexus between the accused and the transactions on the alleged United Bank for Africa, UBA plc to make a case for money laundering”.
After listening to his submissions, the trial judge held that: “The proof of evidence clearly shows that the defendant is linked to a crime taking note of the details of the bank transactions as contained in the evidence and also stated in the statements obtained by EFCC during investigations.”
“The respondent has provided substantial evidence in support of the case and has fully furnished the court with the proof of evidence obligatory for a court of law in order to embark on the trial in references to the statements of Usman Aliyu alongside his cousin, NuruYahaya whilst in custody of the respondent,” the trial judge added.
Justice Tsoho, thereafter, dismissed the application “as the authenticity of this case has been established”.
Consequently, Monguno prayed the court for an adjournment to enable him to explain the ruling to his client and prepare to come back for the commencement of trial.
While adjourning to February 12, 2019, for “continuation of trial”, Justice Tsoho ordered the EFCC should release the defendant’s international passport within a fortnight’s time. He also reduced the terms of the previous bond from N150million to N50million.
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