A former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Steve Oronsaye, was on Tuesday, May 9, cleared an Abuja division of the High court sitting in Maitama of the N190 million corruption charges leveled against him.
Mr. Oronsaye, who was also the Chairman, Presidential Committee on Financial Action Task Force, set up by former President Goodluck Jonathan, was docked on a seven-count charge, bordering on breach of trust and diversion of N190 million meant for the committee he chaired.
But delivering judgment on the case today, the presiding judge, Justice Olasumbo Goodluck held that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against Oronsaye.
According to Justice Goodluck “There was contradictory evidence by the prosecution witnesses on whether the defendant was still the head of service as at the time he chaired the committee.
“The court seems to discredit the evidence, suffice it to say that there is no evidence linking the accused with the statutory element and ingredients of the offence with which he is charged.
“The court of trial must as a matter of law discharge him because it has no business scanting for evidence that is nowhere to be found.
“I have looked through the case and I am unable to see any justifications for this case.
“The defendant is hereby discharged,” the presiding judge ruled.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the prosecution closed its case on November 15,2016 after calling six witnesses to testify.
The defence filed no-case submission on December 9, 2016, on the ground that the prosecution had no case against the defendant.
The defence counsel, Kanu Agabi, had argued in his submission that there were omissions of essential elements in the charges against his client, adding that the charges were imperfect.
Speaking further, Agabi noted that the charge was initially 2- count, later amended to 7-count, stressing that there was a sign that something was wrong with the charge from the beginning.
Agabi said that the prosecution did not specify the amount that was entrusted to the defendant, nor the mandate of the committee the defendant chaired, adding that no evidence of personal use of the fund that the defendant was accused of misusing, but mere allegations.
The defence council noted that no offence proven by prosecution to warrant the defendant to enter defence and urged the court to grant his no-case submission.
Reacting to Agabi’s arguement, the prosecuting counsel, Offem Uket, told the court that the prosecution has proved its case, adding that the defendant should enter his defence.
The prosecuting counsel noted that it was not right to bring up the issue of imperfection of charges now, as it was against the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, (ACJA) 2015.
