Court releases Okorocha and others charged with alleged N2.9 billion fraud

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday acquitted a former governor of Imo, Rochas Okorocha, from the N2.9 billion fraud charges brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).< /p>

Inyang Ekwo, in a ruling, quashed charges of breaching Section 105(3) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 (ACJA), which gives the Attorney General of the Federation the power to revoke a case.

The decision related to a preliminary application filed by Mr. Okorocha. The EFCC had yet to begin calling witnesses by the time the judge ended the case on Monday.

Mr. Ekwo said the directive from the AGF and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami in a letter dated September 12, 2022, to the EFCC to forward the dossier with his comments on the issues to be considered and considered, was binding for the commissions.

"All that the law required of the Respondent (EFCC) was for the Respondent when ordered by the HAGF (Honourable Attorney General of the Federation), pursuant to any enactment, is to comply and not act as if they were not under the law or are exempt from it.

"For the avoidance of doubt, the office of the HAGF is founded on the provisions of the constitution and is thus preserved.

“The controversies and drama surrounding this trial are unnecessary and it is time to put an end to it,” he said.

The judge further held that from the moment the AGF gave the directive to the EFCC, the commission ceased to have the legal authority to pursue or continue the prosecution of the case.

"In other words, the intervention of the HAGF in any criminal proceeding terminates the authority of the Crown in the case, unless otherwise instructed by the HAGF.

"Ultimately, I find that the Respondent's failure to comply with the HAGF directive as set forth in Okorocha Exhibit 7 is fatal to this proceeding and renders it void.

“The defendant is not empowered by any law to continue this proceeding after the HAGF issued the directive in Okorocha Exhibit 7.

"With Okorocha Exhibit 7, only the HAGF can decide whether or not to charge the defendants once the case is delivered to their office as instructed," he added.

Furthermore, Mr. Ekwo has agreed with the defendants that the earlier judgment of a Court of Coordinated Jurisdiction sitting in Port Harcourt in Case Number: FHC/PH/FHR/165, between Mr. Okorocha and EFCC, preventing the agency to pursue the alleged violation had not been ruled out.

According to him, the order is binding until it is canceled.

"The fact that a person refuses to comply with the law does not change the law, nor does the law change to accommodate any person's act of non-compliance.

"What happens when a person chooses not to comply with the law is that the law turns its back on them.

“When this happens, every action or decision taken by that person in the non-compliance process becomes illegal and the court will set aside that act of non-compliance ex debito justitiae.

"It is so because there is no conspiracy that can be used to save an illegal act," he said.

The judge, who declared that Mr. Okorocha and the 5th defendant (Consoli...