Politics
Court orders EFCC to refund N288m to former Taraba Speaker Oseni
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been ordered to refund N228 million it forcefully collected from ex-Speaker of Taraba State House of Assembly, Mark Useni and two others.
The two other persons are the state’s All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Sani Danladi, and Senator Joel Ikenya.
The order was given to the anti-graft agency on Wednesday by the Federal High Court sitting in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital.
The court which accused the prosecution of failure to provide concrete evidence to nail the defendants, said its order must be complied with by the EFCC within 72 hours.
The EFCC had charged the trio to court on the allegation that they conspired and misappropriated the sum of N450 million presidential campaign funds in 2015.
READ ALSO : CCT TRIAL: Appeal Court disappoints CJN Onnoghen
But when the matter came up, Justice Stephen Pam, who presided over the case said the EFCC failed to substantiate its claims against the defendants.
Asking the anti-graft agency to desist from infringing on the rights of innocent citizens, the judge ruled, “The EFCC is hereby ordered to refund the sum of N228 million which the commission received from the defendants.”
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...