Former GMD of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), Andrew Yakubu, has been cleared of money laundering allegations by a federal high court in Abuja.
On February 3, 2017, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, raided the former NNPC chief’s Kaduna house and found $9.8m and £74,000 in a safe.
On March 16, 2017, Yakubu was charged on 6 counts charge of money laundering and fraudulent asset declaration.
Yakubu had claimed that he received the money as presents and estacodes and that he had kept it for 5 years till he retired.
However, the judge, Justice Ahmed Mohammed said the EFCC failed to show that the defendant received cash payments above N5m threshold.
Money in the house is one thing, but proving it was received all at once is another, the judge said.
He called Yakubu’s evidence “credible” and said he had no reason to doubt it.
The judge also said the EFCC’s inquiry was flawed.
The prosecution should have researched the defendant’s claim and then presented evidence to refute it, the judge ruled.
He ordered that the monies deposited in the Central Bank of Nigeria be returned to the former GMD.
RN
