Citadel MD asks court to discharge him
The Managing Director of Citadel Oracle Concepts Ltd., Benjamin Joseph, has asked an FCT High Court to discharge him on allegations of false information to security agencies for want of evidence. Joseph was charged and arraigned for giving the police false information, identity theft, impersonation and criminal conversion of contract after he accused top officials […]
The Managing Director of Citadel Oracle Concepts Ltd., Benjamin Joseph, has asked an FCT High Court to discharge him on allegations of false information to security agencies for want of evidence.
Joseph was charged and arraigned for giving the police false information, identity theft, impersonation and criminal conversion of contract after he accused top officials of Zinox Group, including the Chairman, Leonard Stanley Ekeh, and wife, Chioma, of hijacking a N170.3m contracts awarded to his company by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in 2012.
Also listed in the petition dated July 3, 2014, are Chief S.O. Igbokwe, Princess O. Kama, Mrs. Folashade Oyebode, Mr. Chris Eze Ozim, Admas Digital Technologies Ltd., Pirovics Engineering Services Ltd., Technology Distributions Ltd., and Zinox Technologies Ltd.
Joseph had also accused them of forging a board resolution of Citadel Oracle Concepts Ltd. with which they opened a bank account: 0059202575, with Access Bank for a computer supply contract with FIRS worth N170m.
But in a no case submission filed by his lawyer, K.S. Olutenkunbi, Joseph argued that there was no evidence to support all the ingredients of the offences charged.
“It is further submitted that the evidence of the prosecution witnesses have been so discredited by cross examination and/or are so manifestly unreliable that no reasonable tribunal can safely convict on it,” he averred.
“The court is urged to respectfully hold that no case has been made out by the prosecution against the defendant and the court is urged to discharge and acquit the defendant,” he added.
But police prosecution counsel, Simon Lough, in his reply, argued that the prosecution had made out a prima facie case against the defendant warranting him to enter his defence.
Earlier, Joseph had applied to the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister for Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), asking him to take over the prosecution of the case.
Thus, in the hearing of the matter in January this year, a principal state counsel, Shefihu Mahmoud, announced representation for the AGF and applied to take over the prosecution of the trial under Section 173 of the 1999 Constitution.
The case is slated for adoption on September 18.