Court Clears Former Chief of Air Staff of N22.8bn Fraud Charges

In a significant legal development, the Federal High Court in Lagos has dismissed the N22.8 billion fraud charge against former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu, along with two other Air Force Chiefs. Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke, while delivering rulings on their preliminary objections, ruled that the court lacked jurisdiction to try them for the alleged crime.

The court’s decision to set the military officers free stemmed from their status as serving military personnel at the time the alleged offence was said to have occurred. Air Marshal Amosu, who served as Chief of Air Staff from January 16, 2014, until his removal on July 13, 2015, was indicted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for conspiracy, stealing, money laundering, and other related offences.

The defendants, along with seven companies, were initially arraigned before Justice Mohammed Idris on June 29, 2016. However, the case was later transferred to Justice Aneke after Justice Idris was elevated to the Court of Appeal in 2019.

Following an order forfeiting recovered funds to the federal government, the EFCC amended the charge, reducing the number of defendants from 11 to three and removing eight companies previously named in the indictment.

Despite attempts at plea bargain talks, which failed due to the EFCC’s stringent terms, the defendants’ legal counsel argued that they were subject to trial by a court-martial as serving military officers at the time of the alleged offence.

In his ruling, Justice Aneke held that the prosecution failed to establish whether Air Marshal Amosu was still a serving officer of the Armed Forces at the time the charges were filed. Citing Supreme Court precedent, the court declared the investigation, charges, and arraignment null and void, ultimately quashing the charges against all three defendants.

Written by sdbLive