According to the reports, a panel of judges at the Supreme Court of Nigeria today quashed the conviction handed Bode George a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, who was earlier charged with corruption by Lagos court and imprisoned.
George was discharged and acquitted as the court stated that prosecutors at
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
had no evidence of Mr.
George's intention to commit fraud at the Nigeria Port Authority (NPA) where as
chairman of the NPA board he was caught presiding over a contract bazaar the
bled the nation of Nigeria.
According to the judges, headed by a controversial judge, John Afolabi
Fabiyi JSC, the charge of "contract splitting" upon which Mr. George
was convicted is unknown to law.
The case of today's quashing of George's conviction resembled that of a
Lagos Court of Appeal ruling which similarly quashed a death sentence
conviction of Major Hamza Al Mustapha's for the murder of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola
in 1996.
In Lagos, a panel of Court of Appeal cleared former Chief Security Officer
of late maximum dictator, Sanni Abacha Mustapha of murder charges under
controversial circumstances. After having been cleared Mustapha thanked
President Jonathan for arranging his judicial pardon.
Interestingly, the case of Al Mustapha was lead by the same lawyer, former
president of the Nigeria Bar Association, Joseph B Daudu was Al Mustapha's
lawyer in the Lagos case. Mr. Daudu contributed a lot to securing Mr. George's
freedom today.
Sahara Reporters
No comments:
Post a Comment