The Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday discharged and acquitted a former Oyo State Governor Rashidi Ladoja of the N4 . 7 bn fraud charges pressed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in 2008 .
Delivering judgement in the 11 - year- old trial, Justice Mohammed Idris said the evidence brought to court against Ladoja and Waheed Akanbi , a former Oyo State Commissioner for Finance , was “too low on credible evidence”.
The judge said the EFCC failed to call relevant witnesses that could have helped it to prove its case , adding that the six witnesses it called gave inconsistent and contradictory testimonies .
The judge said most of the documents which the EFCC tendered in support of its case were lacking in probative value .
He noted also that the prosecution was inconsistent with the amount of money it claimed that the defendants diverted and laundered .
Justice Idris described the handling of Ladoja ’ s case by the prosecutor , Mr Olabisi Olufemi , from the law firm of Festus Keyamo as an example of how a criminal case should not be handled .
Describing the prosecution of Ladoja and Akanbi as unjust , Justice Idris said he found that if anyone was to be prosecuted for the alleged fraud, it should have been the persons who the EFCC fielded as prosecution witnesses two, three and four.
The judge said , “There is a thin line between success and failure ; that thin line is called credible evidence . “The case of the prosecution is too low on credible evidence .
For this reason , I agree with the 1 st defendant when he stated that to sustain the 11 counts , the prosecution called six witnesses, three of whom, being PW 2 , PW 3 and PW 4 , are particeps criminis , who adduced material evidence . ”
The judge said there was no way government would succeed in its anti - corruption fight when real offenders are shielded .
He said , “ This country cannot sustain the fight against corruption in the manner in which this case has been prosecuted , where those that should be proper defendants in the case were shielded from prosecution .
This is injustice and this court will not partake in an injustice . ”
