Mr. Stephen Oronsaye, a former Head of Service of the Federation (HoSF), was on Monday, discharged and acquitted of the N2 billion money laundering charge preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The Federal High Court sitting, in Abuja, held that the EFCC could not adduce credible evidence to establish its case against Oronsaye and his co-accused.
Justice Inyang Ekwo, who presided over the case, in his ruling, stated that the evidence provided by the anti-graft agency was not convincing enough to warrant the conviction of the accused.
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According to him, the prosecution failed to effectively discharge the evidential burden that was placed on it by the law.
In his judgment, therefore, Justice Ekwo discharged and acquitted the defendants of the 27-count charge the EFCC preferred against them.
The former HoS in 2015 was dragged before the court by the EFCC over allegations of using fronts to siphon public funds, totalling about N2billion, through procurement fraud into private accounts.
Others accused with to he ex-HoS included the Managing Director of Fedrick Hamilton Global Services Limited, Mr. Osarenkhoe Afe and three companies- Cluster Logistic Limited; Kangolo Dynamic Cleaning Limited, and Drew Investment & Construction Company Limited.
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However, Oronsaye, who was represented by his team of lawyers led by Mr. Ade Okeanya-Inneh SAN, prayed the court to discharge and acquit him of the charge, arguing that EFCC could not prove his complicity in the alleged fraud and so did not establish a prima-facie case against him.
