Court Clears Ex-NNPC GMD of $9.8m Money Laundering Charge

A Federal High Court in Abuja has discharged and acquitted a former Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Andrew Yakubu, charged with laundering about $9.8million.

Justice Ahmed Mohammed, in a judgment on Thursday, held that the prosecuting agency, the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubts, as required by law.

Justice Mohammed further held that the EFCC failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt the necessary ingredients of the alleged offences charged in counts three and four, in respect of which the Court of Appeal ordered the defendant to enter a defence.

The judge upheld the defendant’s defence that the foreign currencies found in his Kaduna residence were gifts and donations from friends and well-wishers after he retired as NNPC GMD.

He also agreed with the defendant’s contention that the money was not collected in bulk, but in tranches, adding that part of the amount was from his savings from the various official foreign trips he engaged in while in office.

The EFCC had, in 2017 raided Yakubu’s Kaduna residence, where it claimed to have found $9,772,800 and £74, 000 pounds in a safe.