Alleged N450m fraud: EFCC appeals acquittal of Jonathan’s men
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has appealed the February 18, 2010 judgment that discharged and acquitted a former Minister of Science and Technology, Abdu Bulama and four others by Justice Isah Dashen of the Federal High Court, Damaturu, Yobe State. Bulama, who was the coordinator of former President Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation for the […]
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has appealed the February 18, 2010 judgment that discharged and acquitted a former Minister of Science and Technology, Abdu Bulama and four others by Justice Isah Dashen of the Federal High Court, Damaturu, Yobe State.
Bulama, who was the coordinator of former President Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation for the 2015 general elections, was prosecuted alongside Mohammed Kadai, a former Commissioner for Integrated and Rural Development in Yobe State and Deputy Coordinator of the Campaign Organisation, Yobe State, Abba Gana Tata.
Others discharged then on a seven-count charge that bordered on money laundering to the tune of N450 million were Muhammad Mamu and Hassan Ibn Jaks.
EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, in a statement yesterday, said recent investigations by the commission showed that Bulama and his co-defendants partook in the disbursement of huge sums of money in the buildup to the 2015 general election without going through a financial institution.
Uwujaren said the EFCC, in its notice of appeal, filed by its counsel, Mukhtar Ali Ahmed, argued that the trial judge erred in law in the judgement.
Ahmed in the appeal motion, noted: “The ruling of the lower court delivered by Justice Dashen is a miscarriage of justice, because of the failure of the trial court to properly evaluate the evidences brought before the court against the defendants.”
He urged the Appeal Court justices to overrule the lower court.