The Court of Appeal sitting in Ibadan, Thursday discharged and acquitted a former governor of Oyo State, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala, over the N11.5 billion corruption charges levelled towards him by means of the Economic and Financial crimes price (EFCC).
The appellate court docket additionally discharged and acquitted former deputy Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Hosea Agboola, who is presently the Chairman of Governor’s Advisory Council to Governor Seyi Makinde, and a business enterprise mogul, Mr. Femi Babalola, popularly recognized as Jogor.
Agboola who is the 2nd defendant/appellant, served as Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters when Alao-Akala used to be governor between 2007 and 2011, whilst the 0.33 defendant/appellant, Femi Babalola, owns an engineering firm, Pentagon Engineering Services, that achieved some contracts at some stage in the former governor’s tenure.
The case, which commenced out eleven years ago, used to be presided over through a three-man panel led by using skill of Justice Jimi Olukayode Bada even as Justices Abba Muhammed and Abdulazeez Waziri have been one-of-a-kind contributors of the panel.
The three defendants/appellants were existing in court docket in the route of Thursday’s proceeding.
Alao-Akala,Ayoola and Babalola, had been arraigned by using EFCC earlier than an Oyo State High Court, over an alleged N11.5 billion fraud. The 11 count-charge preferred in the direction of the trio embody conspiracy, awarding contract barring budgetary provision, obtaining via false pretence, obtaining property with money derived from illegal act and concealing the possession of such property, amongst others.
Counsel to EFCC, Dr. Benedict Ubi, had advised the lower court docket that when Alao-Akala used to be once the governor of Oyo State, he awarded a street contract nicely really worth N8.5 billion between 2007 and 2009 to Pentagon Engineering Services, alleging that the organisation dealt with the contract on behalf of the 33 neighborhood governments areas of the country barring budgetary provision
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