A Federal High Court in Abuja has discharged the suspended Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Ishaq Modibbo Kawu, from allegations of involvement in the N2.5 billion Digital Switch-Over (DSO) fraud.
Justice Ogunbanjo-Giwa delivered the judgment on Thursday, ruling against the suit filed by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in 2019.
Kawu, the late Chairman of Pinnacle Communications Limited, Lucky Omoluwa, and the Chief Operating Officer of the same company, Dipo Onifade, were jointly charged before the judge.
They were accused of misapplying the N2.5 billion seed grant released to NBC by the federal government for the DSO project at the time.
Brief Facts of the Case
- ICPC accused them of abuse of office, money laundering, and misleading a public officer with the intent to defraud the federal government, in violation of Section 26(1)(c) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000, and punishable under Section 19 of the same law.
- The ICPC alleged that, during investigations, a government White Paper that governed the execution of the DSO programme was allegedly flouted by the ex-NBC head.
- However, Kawu and others denied the allegations, leading to the trial.
During the proceedings, Kawu, through his counsel, A. U. Mustapha (SAN), argued before the court in February 2020 that he had no case to answer in the alleged fraud.
- He prayed the court to absolve him of the charges brought against him by ICPC.
- However, on June 3, 2020, Justice Ogunbanjo-Giwa ruled that the ICPC had established a prima facie case against Kawu, Onifade, and Pinnacle Communications Limited and directed them to enter their defense.
- Mr. Omoluwa was removed from the charge after his counsel, Alex Iziyon (SAN), informed the court that he had died from heart failure during the trial.
- The ICPC then amended the charge to remove the late Omoluwa’s name.
What the Court Said
- Delivering her verdict on Thursday, the judge held that the evidence presented by the prosecution witnesses did not substantiate the case against the defendants.
“The onus of proving that anyone is guilty of a crime is on the prosecution,” the judge stated.
“I, therefore, find the defendants not guilty as charged. The defendants are hereby discharged,” she ruled.
- The judge further held that all disbursements related to the DSO project were carried out under the purview of the then Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed.
- She noted that there was no NBC board in place at the time Kawu was in office, meaning that all financial decisions were made by the ministry.
“Again, I must stress that no oral evidence is strong enough to discredit documentary evidence,” she stated.
The judge concluded that the prosecution failed to prove the charge of money laundering against the defendants.
