A former Minister of the Federal
Capital Territory (FCT), Jumoke Akinjide, has returned N650 million to the
Federal Government.
Akinjide informed the court about
this development today, when she notified Justice Muslim Sule Hassan of a
Federal High Court in Lagos of her plans to reach an out-of-court settlement
with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The EFCC had preferred a fraud
and money laundering charge against her over the campaign money for the Peoples
Democratic Party in Oyo State received from the former National Security
Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.
Her lawyer, Chief Bolaji Ayorinde
(SAN), told the court that before the start of trial, the party took the
decision to return the fund complained of by the prosecution through his
client.
“The entire money from the charge
is the sum of N650 million. The funds were campaign money for the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo state in the 2015 general elections.
“The defendants who were PDP
chieftains in Oyo state acting on the collective decision of the party decided
to refund the money.
“I had a word with the EFCC’s
lawyer, Rotimi Oyedepo, and we think it is wise going forward and at this point
not to subject this matter to further adjudication and waste the time of the
court.
“We decided that counsels on all
sides should meet to look at the way forward on this charge, the money
complained of having been refunded by the party through Jumoke Akinjide.
“My application is that the court
should adjourn for further hearing pending the outcome of our discussion”, the
silk said.
Other defence lawyers, Micheal
Lana and Akinola Oladeji, were also in support of the plan.
Responding, EFCC’s lawyer, Rotimi
Oyedepo, said he is not opposed to an adjournment to allow for discussion
between parties.
He said: “I confirmed the
discussion with the silk this morning. But I want to say that the matter before
the court is not principally about campaign funds.
“I also confirmed that the
commission had recovered the sum of N650 million, not from the chieftains and
principal members of the PDP, but rather from the first defendant (Oloye Jumoke
Akinjide).
“Section 270 of the
Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015 allow parties to discuss. In
view of the fact that the silk has applied for an adjournment to allow for
discussion, we would not be objecting to his application”.
After listening to the
submissions of the two parties in the matter, The Presiding judge, Justice Hassan
adjourned further hearing in the matter till February 22.
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