July 16, (THEWILL) — A Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, has discharged and acquitted former Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose, of charges in a money laundering case brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Ruling on Wednesday in a No-Case submission filed by the former governor, Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke, held that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against him to warrant further defence.
The EFCC had, on Tuesday, July 2, 2019, re-arraigned Fayose and Spotless Investment Limited on an 11-count charge bordering on money laundering and stealing to the tune of N6.9 billion (Six Billion, Nine Hundred Million Naira). The defendants had first been arraigned on October 22, 2018, before Justice Mojisola Olatoregun.
At the last adjourned on May 19, 2025, counsel to Fayose, Chief Kanu Agabi SAN, had argued the no-case submission dated May 16, 2025, and further submitted that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against his client. He had also told the court that Abiodun Agbele, whom he described as a co-conspirator in the alleged transaction, was not charged alongside Fayose.
“The predicate offences on which these charges are based do not hold water. Criminal breach of trust and conspiracy are distinct charges, and no co-conspirator was docked with the defendant“, he had argued.
Counsel to the second defendant, Spotless Investment Limited, Olalekan Ojo, SAN, had also adopted the no-case submission.
Responding, the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs SAN, had urged the court to dismiss the no-case submissions.
Jacobs had also cited a counter-affidavit and written address dated May 8, 2025, and further submitted that the defendants failed to explain the suspicious financial transactions. Jacobs also queried why Fayose did not use his personal bank account for the transactions “if they were clean”.
He had also drawn the attention of the court to the fact that a prosecution witness, Abubakar Madaki, an investigator with the EFCC, had in his testimony stated that Fayose used associates to purchase properties both in Nigeria and abroad.
“These are associates who later denied ownership of the properties, even though Fayose had claimed them in his statement”, he had added.
According to him, Obanikoro’s testimony that Fayose personally requested the funds in cash and introduced Agbele to handle the delivery required a defence from the accused.
However, ruling on the no-case submission on Wednesday, Justice Aneke held that the anti-graft agency failed to establish a prima facie case against Fayose to warrant further defence.
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