The Federal High Court, Lagos on Friday dismissed an application by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Dele Belgore, challenging the money laundering charges pressed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
EFCC had on February 8, 2017 arraigned Belgore for allegedly collecting N450m out the US$115m allegedly doled out by a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, to compromise the 2015 general elections.
The EFCC claimed that Belgore, a former governorship aspirant in Kwara State, handled the money in cash without going through any financial institution, an act said to violate the provisions of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act.
Belgore was arraigned alongside a former Minister of National Planning, Prof. Abubakar Suleiman, on five counts before Justice Rilwan Aikawa.At the June 8 proceedings in the case, Belgore, through his counsel, Mr. Ebun Shofunde (SAN), had filed an application challenging the competence of the charges and urging the judge to quash the charges and set him free.
In his ruling on Friday, the judge dismissed Belgore’s application, upholding the EFCC’s argument that the failure to file an affidavit of investigation could not affect the substance of the charges.
