N155m: ‘You have case to answer’ – Court tells El-Rufai’s ex-Chief of Staff, one other

The Federal High Court sitting successful Kaduna has ordered erstwhile Kaduna State Commissioner of Finance and Chief of Staff to the contiguous past Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, Mr. Bashir Mohammed Saidu, and his co-defendant, Mr. Ibrahim Murktar, to unfastened their defence successful an ongoing N155 cardinal wealth laundering proceedings instituted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC.

Delivering a ruling connected the no-case submissions made by the defendants, Honourable Justice Rilwan Aikawa dismissed the application, holding that the prosecution had established a prima facie lawsuit against them.

The Court ruled that, from the totality of the grounds presented by the ICPC, the defendants person questions to reply and indispensable truthful participate their respective defences.

Mr Saidu and Mr Murktar are being prosecuted connected a four-count complaint bordering connected wealth laundering offences nether the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

The ICPC had alleged that Mr. Murktar, a cashier successful the Kaduna State Ministry of Finance astatine the time, withdrew the sum of N155,000,000.00 successful aggregate currency tranches from the Kaduna State Exchange Gain Account.

The funds were reportedly handed implicit successful currency done a proxy for the payment of Mr. Saidu, successful usurpation of statutory fiscal regulations.