BY LINUS CHIBUIKE
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, on Monday, discharged former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s son-in-law, Abdullahi Babalele, of a two-count charge of laundering $140,000.
The court threw out the charge against Babalele, who was first arraigned in 2018, on account of territorial jurisdiction.
Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke ruled that the charge against the defendant, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, should not have been filed in Lagos, since the alleged offence was allegedly committed in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
The EFFC had accused Babalele of giving former President Olusegun Obasanjo $140,000 on the instruction of the former VP, who was the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2019 election.
At the last hearing on December 7, Counsel to the defendant, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, had filed a no-case submission, asking the court to dismiss the charge, to which the defendant had pleaded not guilty.
In giving the judgement on Monday, however, Justice Aneke relied on the Supreme Court’s ruling in a case between Mohammed Dele Belgore and the EFCC on territorial jurisdiction.
