According to reports on Channels Television, the Federal High Court in Lagos has dismissed a "No-Case-Submission" application filed by three directors of Petro Union Oil and Gas Limited, who are standing trial over an alleged £2.6 billion fraud.
The trial judge, Justice Mohammed Liman, in his ruling on the application, held that the Federal Government had made out a prima facie case against the company and its directors, Kingsley Okpala, Prince Chidi Okpalaeze, and Prince Emmanuel Okpalaeze, which requires them to enter a defence.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting the trio on allegations of conspiracy, obtaining money by false pretences, attempted theft, and forgery.
The anti-graft agency had claimed that the defendants fraudulently procured a cheque from a foreign bank for £2.556 billion under the pretext that it was meant to construct three petrochemical refinery complexes in Nigeria.
The EFCC also alleged that the defendants, sometime in April 2007, forged a statement of account in the name of Goldmatic Limited, which was used to obtain the sum of £2,159,221,313.54 billion.
In his ruling, Justice Liman exonerated the company's financial consultant, Abayomi Kukoyi, stating that his involvement in the series of incidents leading to the alleged crime was in a professional capacity, and therefore he has no case to answer.
Delivering his verdict, the judge held that the Federal Government had, through its witnesses, established a prima facie case of fraud against the three directors, and they must now present their defence to the charges.
Rotimi Jacobs, the EFCC's lead counsel, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, had argued that the prosecution had proven the ingredients of the offences beyond any reasonable doubt, and that the defendants knew the truth but were insisting that the Federal Government should pay them £2.1 billion, which he described as a clear case of fraud.
The EFCC had maintained that the alleged offences are contrary to and punishable under sections 1(2), 1(2)(a) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, Law of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990, as well as sections 509, 467(2)(I), and 468 of the Criminal Code Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.