Former Permanent Secretary and Nigerian Envoy to the Scandinavian region and accomplished writer, Ambassador Godknows Igali, has been absolved of involvement in the N27 billion sales proceed scandal of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria.
Igali’s name was therefore ordered removed from the list of respondents by a Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice Nnamdi Dimgba.
Justice Dimgba, in suit no FHC/ABJ/CS/1203/2017, made the ruling in favour of Igali, holding that he should be excluded from the case brought against him and others by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Others charged alongside him were senior officials of the Goodluck Jonathan administration, including the former President’s Chief of Staff, retired Brigadier General Jones Arogbofa; and the then Accountant General of the Federation, Jonah Otunla.
According to the EFCC, Igali was “probably” connected with some of the 12 properties it had confiscated and obtained an interim forfeiture order on.
In the ruling, exclusively reported by The Nation, Justice Dimgba granted the uncontested motion by Igali’s lawyer, Maxwell Aleto of Udah and Co Chambers, and ordered that the former Permanent Secretary of the Power Ministry and Water Ministry be excluded from the case and that there should be no further mention of his name as there exists no evidence against him.
Igali had insisted that he had no case to answer as funds for the privatisation never came to the Ministry, of which he was Permanent Secretary.
He also maintained his innocence in the whole matter.
He insisted on his robust and unblemished Civil Service track record across different Ministries, Departments and Agencies and his global acclaim.
Recall that the former Ambassador had challenged the inclusion of his name in a controversial looters list released by Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed.
He has however maintained total silence since the recent ruling.
