A former Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, says his joy knows no bounds after the Federal High Court in Lagos dismissed the money laundering charges pressed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
He described his trial by the EFCC, which lasted 12 and a half years, as baseless and unjust persecution for someone who served the state.
Ikuforiji spoke to journalists on Wednesday at his office in Ikeja two days after Justice Mohammed Liman freed him and his aide, Oyebode Atoyebi, of the 54 counts of money laundering pressed against them by the EFCC.
He said, “My joy knows no bounds—almost 48 hours now. I am extremely grateful to God. I was the Speaker for 10 years and was persecuted for 12 and a half years over a wrongful allegation. I suffered unnecessarily for that period of 12 and a half years.
“A faceless petitioner wrote a petition to the EFCC to the effect that Lagos State House of Assembly arm-twisted the governor to pay N500m on a monthly basis as running costs. And exactly 14 months later, the Speaker had stolen and misappropriated N7bn. This was the beginning of the whole issue.
“The EFCC came to the Assembly and combed the entire books of the House for three months and a week. And at the end of the day, they didn’t see any misappropriation, stealing, or embezzling of a kobo from the money released to the House. The officer who led the investigation affirmed that our book was the neatest and most detailed he had ever seen.”
Uthman, a Mass Communication graduate from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, has over six years experience in journalism. He reports crime to community-related news for Metro, business with a focus on the capital market and the oil and gas.
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