The Federal Excessive Court docket, Abuja has mounted March 7 to listen to a movement filed by former Anambra Governor, Willie Obiano.
Obiano is difficult the jurisdiction of the courtroom to listen to the alleged N4 billion fraud cost filed towards him by the Financial and Monetary Crimes Fee, EFCC.
reporter experiences that the previous Anambra governor was arraigned on January 24 on a nine-count cost bordering on alleged cash laundering to the tune of N4 billion however he pleaded not responsible to all counts when the cost was learn to him.
On the resumed listening to of the case on Monday, counsel to Obiano, Mr Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, knowledgeable the courtroom that he had filed a movement difficult its jurisdiction on behalf of his consumer.
Counsel to the EFCC, Mr Sylvanus Tahir, SAN, nonetheless, stated he had but to file a reply as a result of he was served the movement on Monday morning in courtroom.
Tahir additionally stated the problem of jurisdiction had been settled by the Supreme Court docket as soon as the cost bordered on cash laundering, the Federal Excessive Court docket had inherent jurisdiction to attempt it.
The trial decide, Justice Inyang Ekwo suggested the prosecutor to do his half by submitting his response to the movement.
“It’s not so that you can inform the courtroom the Supreme Court docket’s resolution on the problem. Reply to the movement and go away the courtroom to resolve”, Ekwo stated.
Obiano, a governor between March 2014 and March 2022, is alleged to have allegedly diverted the cash from the state’s account devoted to safety funds in his final 5 years in workplace.
He allegedly directed the diversion of the funds from the state’s account between April 2017 and March 2022 and spent the cash for functions unconnected to the safety affairs of the state.
The funds, based on the EFCC, have been diverted by means of corporations that had no enterprise relationship with the Anambra authorities, transformed to {dollars} and handed over to the previous governor in {dollars}.
The case, filed by the EFCC, detailed the 9 corporations allegedly used to divert the funds from the state authorities’s safety vote account.
Every of the 9 counts disclosed the quantity an organization acquired and the interval it acquired it from the state authorities’s account.
In depend one of many costs, the EFCC alleged that between Feb. 16, and March 9, 2018, an combination sum of N223,371,000 was paid from the safety vote account into the account of Connought Worldwide Providers Restricted.
The anti-graft company alleged in depend 2 that between Oct. 30, and Nov. 13 2018, a complete sum of N95 million was paid from the safety vote account into the checking account of S.Y. Panda Enterprises.
In Depend 3, EFCC alleged that from April 11, 2017, and June 21, 2019, a complete of N416,000,000 was diverted from the safety vote account into the account of Zirga Zirga Buying and selling Firm Restricted.
