Aliyu Abubakar, a co-defendant in the alleged money laundering trial of the former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, on Wednesday, told a Federal High Court, Abuja that he had no case to answer in the matter.
Abubakar’s counsel, Wole Olanipekun, SAN, made this known to Justice Inyang Ekwo during the adoption of the final written addresses of parties in the trial-within-trial after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission closed its case.
Olanipekun, in his argument, said the extra-judicial statements obtained from his client by the officers of the EFCC, including Bala Sanga, during investigation were not made voluntarily.
He said the anti-graft agency admitted in their application they filed that Sanga, the former prosecuting lawyer, was present during the extraction of the statements.
He alleged that Sanga induced Abubakar to implicate Adoke and others.
He said: “Bala Sanga was there, he was the investigator and prosecutor at the same time.
“Bala Sanga was the one who was inducing the second defendant (Abubakar).
“He was the one saying bring this man in, bring that one in.”
The senior lawyer argued that Sanga, who doubled as investigator and prosecutor, should have been in the court to clear all doubts.
Olanipukun insisted that his client was coerced to make the statements.
He, therefore, prayed the court to dismiss the EFCC’s argument and uphold Abubakar’s no-case submission.
Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN), who appeared for Adoke (1st defendant), also aligned with Olanipekun’s submission.
Counsel to the anti-corruption commission, Offem Uket, disagreed with Olanipekun.
Uket argued that during the trial-within-trial, it was revealed that Abubakar’s lawyer was always present when the statements were taking.
The lawyer, who said Abubakar was neither induced nor forced to make the statements, urged the court to dismiss the no-case submission.
Justice Ekwo adjourned the matter until December 12 for ruling on the no-case submission.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Abubakar, while being led in evidence as defence witness in the trial-within-trial on July 19, told the court that Sanga, an EFCC officer, threatened him to indict former President Goodluck Jonathan in alleged money laundering suit.
He also alleged that the officer threatened him to indict Adoke.
NAN reports that Adoke was Minister during President Jonathan’s administration between April 6, 2010 and April 29, 2015.
NAN also reports that Aminu Lawal, the second prosecution witness in the trial-within-trial, had on May 10 said that Abubakar was neither enforced to make statements nor induced to implicate others in the course of the investigation, and that he was never threatened to be detained.
Lawal was part of the investigators who took the defendant’s statements on December 31, 2019 and on January 6, 2020.
But Abubakar, a business mogul, told the judge that the extrajudicial statements he made on December 31, 2019 and on January 6, 2020 were not made voluntarily.
He said on December 31, 2019 when he was invited to the EFCC’s office, Sanga threatened to detain him if he refused to make extrajudicial statement.
Besides, Abubakar said on January 6, 2022, Sanga, who introduced himself as the new prosecutor in the matter, told him that there was an evidence before him (Sanga), which showed that he (Abubakar) gave the sum of $20 million to Adoke.
Abubakar also told the court that Sanga informed him that there was another evidence which indicated that he (Abubakar) gave the sum of $50 million to ex-President Jonathan.