THE Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission on Wednesday arraigned a former Chairman of DAAR
Communications Plc, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, before a Federal High Court
in Abuja on six counts of money laundering and fraud-related procurement
charges.
Dokpesi, who was arraigned along with his firm, Daar Investment and Holding Ltd, pleaded not guilty to all the six counts.
After Dokpesi took his plea on
Wednesday, Justice Gabriel Kolawole ordered that he be remanded in the
EFCC custody pending the hearing of his bail application by 12.30pm on
Thursday.
Those who have been arrested in
connection with the arms procurement probe include a former National
Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.); a former Governor of Sokoto
State, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa; his son, Sagir, and a former Minister
of State for Finance, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda.
Dokpesi’s lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome
(SAN), told the judge at the beginning of the proceedings that his
client had been in the EFCC custody for eight days and was feeling dizzy
due to an ailment he had planned to travel abroad to seek medical
attention before he was arrested.
When the first count was read to him and
asked if he understood it, he said, “I vividly understand the charge”
and when asked if he was guilty or not, he said, “Absolutely not guilty,
capital N. O. T, not guilty.”
In response to the subsequent five counts, he repeated the same line, “I am absolutely not guilty.”
The prosecution, led by Mr. Rotimi
Jacobs (SAN), accused the defendants of receiving N2.1bn from the Office
of the National Security Adviser between October 2014 and March 19,
2015 for the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential media campaign in
breach of provisions of the Public Procurement Act, Money Laundering
(Prohibition) Act and the EFCC (Establishment) Act.
In the first count, the prosecution
alleged that the committed conducted “procurement fraud by means of
fraudulent and corrupt act” by receiving money for media campaign
initiative through Daar Investment and Holding Company Limited’s account
with First Bank of Nigeria Plc.
By this, the EFCC said the businessman
had committed an offence “contrary to Section 58(4) (b) of the Public
Procurement Act, 2007 and punishable under Section 58(6) and (7) of the
same Act.”
The accused persons were also accused of
entering into a “purported contract on presidential media initiative”
and received the sum of N2.1bn “on the account of the purported contract
without a ‘Certificate of No Objection, duly issued by Public
Procurement Bureau”.
This, the anti-graft agency said,
constituted “an office contrary to Section 16(1) (b), 4 and (5) of the
PPA Act and punishable under Section 58 (c) of the same Act”.
The prosecution also alleged that the
defendants’ receipt of the money from the Office of the NSA on the
account of the “purported contract without any open competitive bidding
for the said contract,” was an offence contrary to Section 16(1) (c) and
(d) of the PPA and punishable under Section 58 (c) of the same Act.
In the fourth count, Dokpesi and his
firm allegedly submitted “a purported proposal” for the said contract
for the presidential media initiative and received payment of the N2.1bn
on account of the contract “without a written and comprehensive
request” to them by the Federal Government of Nigeria, thereby
committing an offence contrary to sections 45(3) and 46 of the PPA and
punishable under Section 58 (6) of the same Act.
In count five, the accused allegedly
“took control” of the N2.1bn which they “reasonably ought to have known
was proceeds of an unlawful act, to wit: fund obtained from corruption”,
thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 15(2) of the Money
Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 as amended and punishable under
Section 15(3) and (94) of the same Act.
In the sixth count, the defendants were
accused of knowing that the sum of N2.1bn “directly represented the
proceeds of criminal conduct” of the former NSA, Sambo Dasuki, a retired
colonel; and Director of Finance of the Office of the NSA, Shuaibu
Salisu, in the form of criminal breach of trust in respect of the money.
The prosecution alleged that the
defendants thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 17(b)
of the EFCC (Establishment) Act.
The defence lawyers, led by Chief
Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN) and Mike Ozekhome (SAN), said they were only able
to serve their client’s bail application, dated December 8, 2015, on the
prosecution on Thursday because the charges were served on them late on
Wednesday.
Jacobs said he intended to oppose the
bail application especially because of a leg of the prayers contained in
the application seeking an injunction restraining the EFCC from further
arresting and interrogating Dokpesi.
The judge then gave the prosecution up till 9am on Thursday to file its processes in opposition to the bail application.
Some friends and family members of
Dokpesi, who was decked in a ‘kangol’ cap with a checkers shirt and a
grey pair of trousers, were in court to witness the Wednesday’s
proceedings.
Justice Kolawole said after the hearing
of the accused person’s bail application on Thursday, trial would
commence on February 17 and would continue on February 18, March 2 and
3, 2016.
Meanwhile, the Bring Back Our Girls
advocacy group has called on the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice
Mahmud Mohammed, to ensure the speedy investigation, transparent and
conclusive prosecution of all cases related to the procurement of arms
for the nation’s counterterrorism war.
It threatened to “name and shame all
corrupt judges according to the evidence available” whenever a judge
placed any other consideration above the dictates of the law in the
dispensation of his or her duties to Nigerians and the country.
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