In a telephone conversation, Head of Media and Publicity at the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, however, told The Guardian that the Commission would study the charges before taking the next action.
Justice Evoh Stephen Chukwu of the Federal High Court Abuja, who was reported to have said that prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against the former Speaker, delivered Friday’s judgment.
This makes it the second case the EFCC will be losing on the former speaker. The first was the N10 billion-loan scam, which was allegedly obtained to fund the quarterly allowances of legislators; and it seems the Commission is not going to let Bankole off the hook this time without fighting back
The former speaker was accused of embezzlement and contract inflation in the purchase of two bullet-proof Range Rover vehicles, two non-bulletproof Range Rover, three Mercedes Benz S-Class 600 cars, 400 units of DSTV system, 400 television sets, 800 units of desktop computers, 100 units of Sharp Digital photographers, and 400 units of Laserjet 2600N.
The EFCC had said that the purchases contravened Section 17 to 56 of the Procurement Act No. 14 of 2007.
Reports, however, read that Bankole was discharged and acquitted on all 16 charges.
“Naturally, we are dissatisfied because we are the prosecutors and we’ll take a position next week on the next step,” he said.
He noted that EFCC would do everything possible to prove its case against Bankole, saying he doesn’t want to comment on the alleged rumour that President Goodluck Jonathan pressurised the Judiciary to ensure that the former speaker was freed.
But the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) described the court’s decision as a triumph for the Judiciary, even as the main opposition party, All Progressives Congress (APC), says his acquittal e doesn’t mean he was innocent.
Secretary of the Ogun State Chapter of PDP, Alhaji Semiu Sodipo, told The Guardian that the ruling has vindicated the former speaker to the delight of the party, saying the PDP would soon come out to celebrate the freedom.
“I don’t want to believe that the delay was asked to influence the judgment. The judicial system in Nigeria took its time to ensure that all the investigations are conducted before delivering its judgment. The delay doesn’t mean he (Bankole) was guilty of the charges against him,” he said.
In his reaction, the Interim Publicity Secretary of APC, Ogun State, Sola Lawal said although the decision of the Judiciary cannot be faulted, Bankole might not be innocent as ruled. He, however, noted that the position of the judiciary must be accepted.
“We didn’t accuse him; the EFCC did. And they should appeal, if they are not satisfied. Whatever political undertone the ruling has does not affect us. We are not condemning it and we are not applauding it…,” he stated.
The ex-Speaker’s travails began after just five months in office, following the removal of Patricia Etteh, who was enmeshed in a multimillion-Naira scandal.
Since his election as Speaker, he had been swimming from one stream of financial mess to the other.
The first financial impropriety leveled against his Speakership was the purchase of Peugeot 407 cars for the House in 2008 valued at N2.3billion. The uproar raised by the incident soon faded away as ‘pro-Bankole’ lawmakers went to town to justify the purchase.
It was not long that other sundry issues started unfolding. For instance, a group of lawmakers in the Lower Chamber, operating under the guise of ‘Progressive group’, had accused Bankole of flouting the Public Procurement Act by influencing contracts to his cronies, friends and aides.
For instance, an allegation of N30 million contracts for the procurement of torchlight for members of the House of Representatives was sighted as one of the many fleecing acts of the former Speaker.
Between 2009 and 2010, the Integrity Group alleged that Bankole misappropriated about N2.4 billion meant for the purchase of 370 cars for the House committee members.
In 2009, the former Speaker and two of his brothers were allegedly involved in a rural electrification scam that saw Hon. Elumelu and members of his committee becoming guests of the EFCC.
The case file of the matter was eventually closed, as it was discovered that the damning reports of the Elumelu Committee on some “powerful forces” within the nation’s polity cold have triggered the allegation.
Source: Guardian
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