High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, has dismissed corruption charges involving alleged mismanagement of about N115m preferred against the suspended Director General of the Security and Exchange Commission, Mounir Gwarzo; and a commissioner of the commission, Zakwanu Garuba.
Former Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, had, in November 2017, suspended Gwarzo over allegations of financial impropriety.
In his ruling on Tuesday, Justice Husseini Baba-Yusuf, discharged and acquitted both Gwarzo and Garuba of the charges in all the five counts preferred against them by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission.
The judge upheld the defendants’ no-case submission by dismissing the case mid-way into trial, as he held that the prosecution failed to lead credible evidence to warrant the two men to open their defence.
According to the judge, the SEC Board had, by its resolution, approved the payments which the prosecution had alleged to be illegal and dishonest.
He noted that by virtue of the Investments and Securities Act, the resolution by the SEC’s Board was not subject to a review by any person or authority.
Ruling separately on each of the five counts, three of which related to Gwarzo and two others to Garuba, the judge held, “No prima facie case has been made out by the prosecution in this count, the defendant is hereby discharged and acquitted on this count.”
The judge repeated the same line in his pronouncements on each of the five counts.
The ICPC had filed five counts accusing Gawarzo of receiving between May and June 2015 the sum of N104,851,154.94 as severance benefit when he had yet to retire, resign or disengage from service; and also the sum of N10,983,488.88 as car grant” he was not entitled to.
The ICPC had, in two of the five counts, accused Garuba, a former Executive Commissioner, Corporate Services of SEC, of conferring corrupt advantage on another public officer in the person of Gwarzo by approving the payments to the suspended SEC boss.
