After Bode George was cleared yesterday, An Abuja High Court, on Friday, has also discharged and acquitted a former minister in charge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mallam Nasir el-Rufai and two officials of the Abuja Geographic Information System (AGIS), who were arraigned before the court over alleged abuse of office and corruption.
El-Rufai was arraigned in 2008 and re-arraigned in April, 2011 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alongside two others for allegedly re-allocating two plots of land previously allocated to the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and NIPOST to his family and associates.
Others charged with him on an eight-count charge are, the former Director General of the Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS), Altine Jubril and the former General Manager, AGIS, Ismaila Iro.
Delivering ruling, the judge, Justice Sadiq Umar, held that the evidences provided by the prosecution were flawed and filled with material contradictions.
He added that all the ingredients of the alleged offences of conferring an undue advantage on his family and associates were not proved.
El-Rufai had, in a no-case-submission filed by his counsels, Kanu Agabi (SAN) and Akin Olujimi (SAN), argued that as minister of the FCT, he was empowered by the constitution to grant and revoke land.
But counsel to the EFCC, Adebayo Adelodun (SAN), said he would test the ruling in a higher court, if briefed by his client.
Reacting to the judgment, the Media Advisor to the former FCT minister, Muyiwa Adekeye, said: “Mallam Nasir el-Rufai welcomes the verdict of the court discharging and acquitting him of the charges he had faced since 2008. It is a vindication he never doubted will come, confident in his innocence and the integrity with which he served this country.
“Despite the magnitude of the pains he has endured, el-Rufai has decided to put all this in the past. He intends to move on, stepping confidently into the future with forgiveness and goodwill, devoid of grudge. ’’
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