TheCable

A federal high court in Abuja has fixed December 13 to rule on a no-case submission filed by Shamsudeen Bala, son of Bala Mohammed, governor of Bauchi state.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had in May 2017 re-arraigned Shamsudeen on an amended 15-count charge bordering on conspiracy, money laundering and forgery.

At the resumed hearing on Monday, Chris Uche, counsel to Mohammed, prayed the court to uphold the no-case submission on the ground that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against his client.

“On the allegation that the first defendant (Mohammed) bought properties with cash above the stipulated financial threshold, there is no single evidence to back this claim,” he said.

“All the persons to whom the cash transactions were made, not one of them was called as a witness to say that the first defendant gave him cash.

“On the allegation of forgery, not a single original document was brought to court for the court to compare and conclude that there was a case of forgery.”

Uche submitted that the suit was one of transferred aggression, adding that it was based on a cocktail of speculations.

Counsel to the 3rd, 4th and 5th defendants also told the court that they had filed no-case-submissions and prayed the court to discountenance the charges against their clients.

Responding, Wahab Shittu, EFCC counsel, argued that the prosecution provided enough evidence before the court to prove that Shamsudeen made cash transactions above the required financial threshold.

He said some of the exhibits were receipts obtained from those who received the cash payment.

“My lord, we are not talking about the transactions made through the bank; it is the N80 million, N110 million and N219 million cash payments we are interested in,” he said.

“From the confessional extra-judicial statement of the defendant, he admitted that he brought the cash of N80 million himself.”

He prayed the court to order the defendants to open their defence.

After listening to the counsel, Nnamdi Dimgba, presiding judge, adjourned the matter to December 13 to rule on the no-case submission.

Shamsudeen is facing trial alongside four firms; Bird Trust Agro Allied Ltd., Intertrans Global Logistics Ltd., Diakin Telecommunications Ltd. and Bal-Vac Mining Ltd.

The EFCC alleged that the four companies were used to launder the money listed in the charge.

According to the anti-graft agency, Shamsudeen used some of the funds to acquire houses in highbrow areas of Abuja.