Wale Babalakin, the
billionaire Chairman of Bi-Courtney Limited, walked out of the Ikeja High Court
in Lagos, Monday, a free man after years of prosecution for an alleged N4.7
billion fraud by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Delivering his ruling,
Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo said the EFCC had failed to disclose enough
information to sustain the allegations against Mr. Babalakin, and his
co-defendants.
“The amended
information filed May 7, 2013, is incurably bad and defective,” the judge held.
Mr. Babalakin, a
Senior Advocate of Nigeria; Alex Okoh, a banker; and their companies
Bi-Courtney Limited, Renix Nigeria Limited, and Stabilini Visioni Limited had
been charged on a 27-count charge of fraud, conspiracy, and retention of
proceeds of criminal conduct.
The EFCC accused Mr.
Babalakin of helping James Ibori, a former governor of Delta State who is now
serving a jail term in the UK, to launder N4.7 billion state funds.
The defendants were
first arraigned in January 2013, after which began a series of court room
dramas that culminated in their discharge.
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