Ex-Bayelsa governor, Timipre Sylva, has been cleared of the N19.2bn fraud charges instituted against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Wednesday, June 10, dismissed the charges nine days after the EFCC dropped a separate six count charge of N2.45bn against Sylva.
Justice Ahmed Mohammed ruled that the charges instituted against Sylva by the EFCC were an abuse of court process since they were based on the same set of transactions involved in the N2.45bn charges that were recently dropped against Sylva.
The former governor was arraigned for the N19.2bn charges in 2012 alongside three others; Nide Francis Okonkwo, Gbenga Balogun and Samuel Ogbuku.
The quartet were accused of using three companies – Marlin Maritime Ltd, Eat Catering Services Ltd, and Haloween-Blue Construction and Logistics Ltd – to fraudulently move N19.2bn from the treasury of Bayelsa State government between 2009 and 2012.
Leave a reply