BREAKING: Court acquits former Lagos speaker of money laundering charges

The Federal High Court has acquitted a former Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, of money laundering charges filed against him over 12 years ago by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

In May, the trial judge, Mohammed Liman, of the Lagos division of the court, adjourned for judgement after listening to the final arguments of the prosecution and the defence during a virtual court hearing via Zoom.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the court acquitted Mr Ikuforiji of all 54 counts on Monday.

The trial with a chequered history has lasted over 12 years, journeying to and back from the Supreme Court. It passed through two trial judges before the last one who fixed it for judgement.

EFCC charged Mr Ikuforij alongside his former Personal Assistant, Oyebode Atoyebi.

They faced 54 counts of money laundering involving N338.8 million.
They pleaded not guilty before Mr Liman, who allowed them to remain on bail granted them when the EFCC first arraigned them in 2012.

EFCC closed its case on 17 March 2021 after calling two witnesses.

The defence counsel, Dele Adesina, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), opened his clients’ defence on 4 May 2023.

He called three witnesses, including Mr Ikuforiji, who testified that he was being prosecuted based on a faceless petition.

Mr Ikuforiji had told the court that the case arose from a petition written by an unknown person, alleging that he stole about N7 billion from the Lagos House of Assembly.

…More details later