COURT FREES BABALAKIN

Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo of an Ikeja High Court yesterday discharged the Chairman of Bi-Courtney Limited, Dr. Wale Babalakin (SAN), and four others of an alleged N4.7billion fraud preferred against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

While ruling on the application for quash filed by Babalakin and his co-defendants, the trial judge formulated four issues raised by the defendants to determine his ruling.
According to him, the issues are: Whether the EFCC can prosecute a defendant without fiat; whether former Delta State Governor, James Onanefe Ibori, is a public officer; whether two prosecuting authorities can jointly sign a charge, and whether the charge on the surface contains sufficient information.
Justice Lawal-Akapo, however, resolved three of the issues in favour of the defendants and only upheld that the EFCC had the power to prosecute any criminal matter in court without fiat.
The EFCC had charged Babalakin and his companies, Stabilini Visinoni Limited and Bi-Courtney Limited, as well as Alex Okoh and his company, Renix Nigeria Limited, to court on a 27-count bordering on conspiracy, retention of proceeds of criminal conduct and corruptly conferring benefit on account of public action.
The anti-graft agency had alleged that Babalakin and his co-defendants fraudulently assisted convicted former Delta State governor, James Ibori, to transfer huge sums of money through various parties to Erin Aviation account in Mauritius for the purchase of a plane.
But, the defendants through their counsel filed separate applications, praying Justice Lawal-Akapo to quash the charges, with a submission that the EFCC, as a federal agency, lacked valid fiat to prosecute them in a State High Court.
The defendants through their counsel, Dr. Biodun Layonu (SAN), Mr. Tayo Oyetibo (SAN), Mr. Roland Otaru (SAN), Dr. Joseph Nwobike (SAN) and Mr. Oladapo Akinosun, also argued that the State High Court has no jurisdiction to hear offences brought under the EFCC Act.
The lawyers posited that all the charges against the defendants were predicated on repealed laws of Lagos State and urged the court to quash same.
They also submitted that the defendants were not properly informed of the details of the offences they were charged for, as stated in the Constitution, adding that Counts 2 to 13 neither informed the defendants the details of the offences, nor did they constitute an offence under any written law in the country.
However, the EFCC through its counsel, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), while opposing the applications of the defendants, had told the court that the agency has the constitutional right to prosecute them before a State High Court.
Jacob also contended that Section 286 of the Constitution permits a State High Court to entertain federal offences.
On the issue of general fiat issued by the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Jacob said the only person who can complain about not getting the said fiat is the Lagos State Attorney-General himself and not any of the parties before the court.
The EFCC counsel said both the EFCC and the AGF are authorised by law to initiate criminal proceedings, adding that the fact that both bodies jointly initiated the charges against the defendants does not make it illegal.
In his ruling, Justice Lawal-Akapo upheld the argument of counsel to the defendants that the EFCC had not disclosed enough information to sustain the allegations made against Babalakin and his co-defendants.
The judge held that the EFCC, for instance, did not disclose the particulars of the offences allegedly committed and when the offences took place, among others, adding: "The amended information filed on May 7, 2013 is incurably bad and ineffective."
The judge also held that Ibori, who was alleged to have corruptly conferred the N4.7billion on Babalakin, is not a public officer as stated in the charge.
On the issue of prosecuting authorities jointly signing a charge, the judge agreed with the defendants that the trial was a joint prosecution between the EFCC and the AGF.

Consequently, Justice Lawal-Akapo discharged Babalakin and his co-defendants and struck out the matter, which began in 2012 before Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo, who was later transferred out of the criminal division of the Lagos High Court.