Court acquits Yakubu, ex-NNPC GMD, orders return of money ceased by EFCC

By our reporter| The former group managing director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), was on Thursday discharged and acquitted of charges of money laundering by a federal high court, Abuja.

The court also ordered that the monies ceased from Yakubu and deposited in the Central Bank of Nigeria by the EFCC be returned to him.

Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had in 2017, raided the Kaduna property of Yakubu and recovered the sum of $9.8m and £74,000 stashed in a fire-proof safe over allegation he omitted the monies from the EFCC asset declaration form given to him to fill in 2015.

Yakubu was subsequently arraigned before Ahmed Mohammed, the judge, on March 16, 2017, on a six-count charge bordering on money laundering and false declaration of assets.

The court had earlier struck out two counts out of the six-count charge following a no-case submission filed by the accused.

Yakubu, in his defence, claimed that he received the monies as gifts and estacodes in different tranches. He said he gathered the monies within a five-year period and decided to keep them in his house pending when he decides to open a business venture of his choice.

Presiding Judge, Ahmed Mohammed while delivering judgment on Thursday, said the EFCC failed to establish that the defendant received cash payment beyond the five million naira threshold.

According to him, it is one thing to find money in one’s house but another thing to prove that the money was received all at once.

The judge, who described Yakubu’s evidence as “credible”, said he had no reason to disbelieve it.

He further ruled that the EFCC did not do a thorough job in its investigation.

“The prosecution ought to have investigated the claim of the defendant and subsequently, lead evidence to contradict its claim,” the judge said.

“A prudent investigator could have asked the investigator to asked the defendant to provide the names of some of his friends and other individuals who had given him monies as gifts or as goodwill and find out how much each person had given him and thereafter invite them to find out the truth or otherwise.”