Assets declaration: FG withdraws case against Ribadu
By Tobi Soniyi and Olusola Fabiyi, Abuja, Published: Thursday, 1 Apr 2010



View All (10) Comment(s)

former Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Nuhu Ribadu


The office of the Attorney-General of the Federation has applied to the Code of Conduct Tribunal to withdraw the case of non-declaration of assets instituted against the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.



The Head of Press and Public Relations at the CCT, Mrs. Idowu Jokpeyibo, said that the decision to withdraw the case was made known at the resumed hearing of the tribunal on Wednesday in Abuja by Dr. J.O. Olatoke, the Special Assistant on Litigation to the immediate past Attorney-General of the Federation, Adetokunbo Kayode (SAN).



At the sitting, Olatoke declared that the move had nothing to do with a new application which the defence counsel intended to submit for the CCT to strike out the case.



Ribadu’s lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, represented by Mr. Samuel Ogalla, had earlier told the tribunal’s Acting Chairman, Justice Murtala A. Sani (SAN), of his intention to submit an application for the tribunal to strike out the case against his client.



Ogalla’s application was rejected by Justice Sani based on the fact that the tribunal had no substantive chairman and therefore could not take a new motion. Also, he said the CCT could only attend to non-controversial matters.



Justice Sani then advised Olatoke to formalise his application for the withdrawal of the case for proper documentation at its next sitting on April 8, 2010.



Speaking after the sitting on what prompted the withdrawal of the case, the prosecuting counsel said, “Before the dissolution of the cabinet, the former Attorney-General of the Federation, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode (SAN), reviewed the cases on ground and directed that this case should be withdrawn.”



Olatoke said the 1999 Constitution vested on the AGF the power of Nolle Prosequi to discontinue criminal prosecution at any stage of a case and that it was within the perogative of the AGF under the constitution to decide the cases he wanted to prosecute.



Reacting to the decision to withdraw the charges of non declaration of assets against Ribadu, Falana said his client had sent his declaration forms to the tribunal two weeks ago and that the forms were admitted in evidence.



He said that government may have discovered that there was no reason for the case in the first place.



He said, “Two months ago, we sent his asset declaration forms to the tribunal and they were admitted.



“There was no need for the case in the first place and this could be the reason the government withdrew it.”



On November 20, 2009, the CCT had ordered the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ogbonna Onovo, to arrest Ribadu for refusing to appear before it.



Acting on the tribunal’s order, the police last December declared Ribadu wanted.



The signal, which was marked “immediate,” was also addressed to INTERPOL



http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201004013284770

truth always bitter, but with truth you can achive many things, now nuhu ribadu will come back home, all the corrupt politician will hide their head in shame, soon many will be in prison, please act presdo we want him to head ( efcc or inec boss ) congratulation mr ribadu, u are welcome back to naija again, this evil men's in politics must brought to book soon, change has come to nigeria, nigeria leaders stoooooooppppppppppp lootiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnggggggggggggg

Nigeria drops charges against ex-head of graft body
Buzz up!0 votes Send
Email IM Share
Facebook Twitter Delicious Digg Fark Newsvine Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati Yahoo! Bookmarks Print AFP/File – The Nigerian government has asked for charges to be dropped against the former head of its anti-graft … 17 mins ago
LAGOS (AFP) – The Nigerian government has asked for charges to be dropped against the former head of its anti-graft body who is on trial for failing to declare his assets while in office, his lawyer said Thursday.

"The federal government filed the application to discontinue the trial of Nuhu Ribadu before the code of conduct bureau. The application will be approved on April 8," Femi Falana told AFP.

Ribadu, a senior police officer, was appointed by former president Olusegun Obasanjo to head the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

He was removed as head in controversial circumstances in December 2007 and accused of not declaring his assets while in office in compliance with the 1999 constitution.

Anti-graft campaigners say that Ribadu fell foul of powerful former state governors by trying to bring them to justice over embezzlement charges, arguing that the anti-corrption war has lost steam since his removal.

Transparency International still ranks Nigeria as one of most corrupt countries in the world



http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100401/wl_africa_afp/nigeriacourtcorruptiontrial?