Court acquits ex-SGF Babachir Lawal of N544m grass cutting scandal for which he was sacked

A Federal Capital Territory High Court has cleared Mr. Babachir Lawal, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, and five other individuals of the N544 million alleged contract fraud charges that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had brought against them.

Justice Charles Agbaza, on Friday, ruled on Lawal’s no-case motion, stating that none of the 11 witnesses who testified on behalf of the EFCC had established any elements of any offense.

In December 2016, a senate ad hoc committee on “mounting humanitarian crisis in the north-east” indicted the former SGF of fraud in a contract awarded for the clearing of “invasive plant species” in Yobe state, through the presidential initiative on north-east (PINE).

PINE, which was under Lawal, was at the time unable to account for N2.5 billion allocated for poverty alleviation for IDPs.

The senate ad hoc committee accused the former SGF of using N544 million to cut grasses.

Subsequently, the EFCC arraigned Lawal and others for alleged fraud.

The EFCC brought charges against Babachir Lawal before Justice Charles Agbaza together with his younger brother, Hamidu Lawal; Suleiman Abubakar; Apeh Monday; and two corporations.

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They were charged with a 10-count fraud-related charge involving the removal of evasive plant species for N544 million, to which they entered a not guilty plea.

Following the scandal and outcry that trailed the scandal, in October 2017, Lawal was sacked by President Muhammadu Buhari, and according to the presidency, the decision was in line with the recommendation of a probe panel.

“On the contrary, it has enlarged my profile. The thing is in court and I have pleaded not guilty and I believe I’m not guilty. A lot of Nigerians, everywhere I go, know it was a set-up. It was very clear,” Lawal had said in his defence, in the aftermath of his dismissal.

During the court proceedings on Friday, Justice Agbaza stated that the EFCC was unable to prove its case against the co-defendants and the former SGF.

The judge ruled that the EFCC had not proven Babachir Lawal to have been a member of either the Presidential Initiative for the North East, which awarded the contract, or the Ministerial Tenders Board, which examined and approved the challenged deal.

Justice Agbaza further ruled that the EFCC had failed to connect Babachir Lawal to the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), which had granted a certificate of no objection to the contract prior to its award.

Due to a lack of evidence connecting the defendants to the alleged offenses, the judge dismissed and exonerated everyone in the 10-count criminal case against them.

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