ABUJA – The Federal High Court in Abuja has ruled that former Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam, and his former Commissioner for Finance, Omadachi Oklobia, have a case to answer in the N3.1 billion fraud charge brought against them.
Delivering a ruling on the no-case submission filed by the two defendants, Justice Peter Lifu held that the prosecution had established a prima facie case, which required the accused persons to enter a defence.
Justice Lifu noted that while the defence had urged the court to invoke Sections 302 and 303 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015, to determine that the defendants had no case to answer, the evidence presented suggested otherwise.
“Upon perusing the evidence before the court, I am mindful to hold that the defendants have some explanation to offer in the interest of fair hearing,” the judge said. “The prosecution has placed before the court legally admissible evidence linking the two defendants to the allegations. They need to throw some light on the allegations because a prima facie case has been established against them.”
He therefore dismissed the no-case submission and ordered the defendants to open their defence. The matter was adjourned to September 22 and 26 for the continuation of trial.
Suswam and Oklobia are standing trial on an 11-count amended charge of conspiracy, money laundering, and criminal breach of trust amounting to N3.1 billion. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alleges that the funds in question were proceeds from the sale of Benue State government shares managed by the Benue Investment and Property Company Limited (BIPC), through Elixir Securities Limited and Elixir Investment Partners Limited.
At the last adjourned date, Suswam’s counsel, Chinedu Ogbozor, and Paul Erokoro, SAN, representing Oklobia, informed the court that they had filed a no-case submission for their clients. They cited Sections 302 and 303 of the ACJA, 2015, and urged the court to adopt their written addresses in support of the motion, arguing that the prosecution had failed to establish any case against the defendants.
However, lead prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, opposed the application and urged the court to dismiss it.
He maintained that the evidence tendered by the EFCC sufficiently linked the defendants to the charges and justified the continuation of the trial.
Suswam and Oklobia were initially arraigned in November 2015 before Justice Ahmed Mohammed.
However, the judge later recused himself from the case, citing a report by Sahara Reporters which alleged he had been compromised to give Suswam a soft landing.
The case was then reassigned to Justice Okon Abang.
Suswam challenged Justice Abang’s jurisdiction, and in February 2020, the Court of Appeal ordered the case to be returned to Justice Mohammed.
The trial resumed and progressed to the point where the EFCC closed its case.
As the defence prepared to open their case, Justice Mohammed was elevated to the Court of Appeal in 2023, leading to the reassignment of the matter to Justice Lifu. Due to the change in judge, the defendants were re-arraigned and pleaded not guilty once again.
Defence lawyers asked the new judge to allow their clients continue under the previous bail conditions granted by Justice Mohammed. Justice Lifu granted the request but warned counsel that he would not allow the case’s prolonged procedural history to derail proceedings under his watch.
