The year 2023 ended with many issues unresolved by the government at all levels.
The judiciary is not left out as old and recent cases were brought forward to the new year. Daily Trust takes a look at five of such high-profile cases.
DCP Abba Kyari
On February 14, 2022, a police officer, DCP Abba Kyari was arrested and charged with several offences related to drug trafficking and money laundering.
Before he was charged, he was once a celebrated “super cop” who received a presidential medal of courage, having investigated high-profile cases.
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He was also accused by the United States of helping a notorious fraudster, Hushpuppi, to launder money.
He was later suspended and declared wanted by the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for allegedly being part of a drug cartel that smuggled cocaine from Brazil to Ethiopia and Nigeria.
He was accused of stealing part of the cocaine haul and bribing other officers to cover up his crime.
He was arrested along with four other officers and had remanded in Kuje prison.
In July 2023, he was granted bail by a Federal High Court in Abuja in another case bordering om non-declaration of assets. He has been in custody since 2022 for drug-related offences.
Former AGF, Ahmed Idris
A former Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in May 2022 on suspicion of diverting almost $200 million (N109 billion) of public funds.
He allegedly used family members and close associates to launder the money and invest it in real estate projects in Nigeria, such as the Gezawa Commodity and Exchange Limited, Gezawa Integrated Farms and Kano City Mall.
He also allegedly compromised key units under his care, such as the Treasury Single Account (TSA), Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) and Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), that led to the loss of more funds by the government.
He is facing a 14-count charge of fraud, money laundering and abuse of office before the High Court in Abuja.
However, he has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
The EFCC has seized over N30 billion worth of assets from him since his arrest, including $899,900, N304 million and 15 properties in Kano and Abuja.
He was granted bail by the court in July 2022, but with stringent conditions, such as depositing N500 million, surrendering his passport and reporting to the EFCC twice a week.
The trial is still ongoing, with the prosecution presenting its witnesses and evidence to the court.
Former CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele
Godwin Emefiele was the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from 2014 to 2023, under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
He was suspended by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in May 2023, shortly after his inauguration, which some people suspected to be over his role in the redesign of the naira currency, which was seen as a political move to prevent vote-buying during the 2023 presidential election.
In June 2023, he was arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) on charges of illegally possessing a shotgun and hundreds of cartridges.
He denied the charges and was granted bail, but was re-arrested by the DSS outside the court in a violent confrontation with prison officials.
In July 2023, the federal government filed 20 additional charges against him, accusing him of conspiracy, procurement fraud, money laundering, and abuse of office.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges and was remanded in custody.
Some of the allegations against him include terrorism financing, mismanagement of the CBN and the economy, inflation, debt, and corruption.
On November 8, 2023, he was granted bail by Justice Olukayode Adeniyi of the FCT High Court.
The judge said that Emefiele had stayed in government’s custody beyond the time stipulated by law and that there must be an end to detention without trial.
The judge also ordered his release to his senior lawyer, Matthew Burkaa, SAN, who must produce him on November 15, 2023 for his arraignment.
Emefiele was also required to deposit his travelling passport with the court registrar
Former EFCC chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa
Abdurasheed Bawa was appointed as the EFCC chairman on 24 February 2021, replacing Ibrahim Magu, who was suspended over corruption allegations.
He was the youngest and first non-police officer to head the EFCC.
Bawa had led several high-profile investigations and prosecutions of corrupt politicians, including former ministers Diezani Alison-Madueke and Godswill Akpabio.
Bawa was also accused of corruption and misconduct by some sources, such as allegedly selling confiscated assets at low prices to his associates and disobeying court orders.
On 14 June 2023, President Bola Tinubu suspended him from his position and ordered the State Security Service (SSS) to detain him for interrogation.
He was accused of several criminal offenses, such as abuse of office, corruption, and contempt of court.
However, he has not been formally charged or tried for any of them.
He was detained by the SSS for over two months, until he was released on October 25, 2023.
He was also committed to prison by a Kogi State High Court for disobeying a court order to produce a suspect, but the contempt case was later voided by a High Court in Abuja.
Bawa’s case is still pending and has generated a lot of controversy.
Ex-MD, Kano State Agricultural Supply Company, Bala Inuwa, and co
Bala Muhammad Inuwa, a former managing director of Kano State Agricultural Supply Company (KASCO), is accused of diverting over N4 billion from the state-owned company’s account into his personal accounts and those of his son, Bala Muhammad Inuwa Junior, and his organization, the Association of Compassionate Friends.
The charges were filed by the office of the state’s Attorney-General, following investigations by the Public Complaint and Anti-Corruption Commission (PCACC).
The defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges and have applied for bail.
They have also challenged the jurisdiction of the court and the impartiality of the presiding judge, Justice Hafsat Yahaya Sani, and requested that the case be reassigned to another judge. The case is still ongoing in court.
In 2017, concerned about many unresolved high-profile criminal cases littering the courts across the country, stakeholders in the justice sector converged on Lagos for a round-table discussion aimed at dissecting the issues and finding possible solutions.
The round-table discussion was tagged, “Strategies and approaches for successful completion and effective prosecution of abandoned or unresolved high-profile cases of corruption in Nigeria.”
It was organised by a human rights advocacy group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, in collaboration with Trust Africa.
Present were the representatives of the then Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), and the then acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu.
The summit pointed out that most of the high-profile corruption cases that had remained unresolved for about a decade involved mainly politically-exposed persons or public office-holders, both serving and retired, including ministers, governors, legislators and judges.
Among the solution to the problem of unresolved high-profile cases were the urgent need for strong institutional reforms, and the need for the three arms of government to come together and show equal commitment to achieving genuine results.
However, over six years after that think-tank, the issue of unresolved high-profile court cases remain endemic in Nigeria, if it hasn’t worsened.
