Fani-Kayode challenges court’s jurisdiction to try him for ‘money laundering’

Justice Ilevbare

A former Minister of Aviation Chief Femi Fani-Kayode Wednesday asked the Federal High Court in Lagos to decline territorial jurisdiction in his trial for alleged money laundering.
He prayed Justice Rilwan Aikawa to transfer the case to the court’s Abuja division where the alleged offence was committed.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) re-arraigned Fani-Kayode and former finance minister (state) Senator Nenadi Usman for alleged N4.6billion fraud.
They pleaded not guilty to the 17-count charge of money laundering.
The defendants were first arraigned last June 28 before Justice Muslim Hassan, but the judge recused himself on March 16 after Fani-Kayode accused him of likely bias.
Justice Hassan was head of legal department at EFCC before his appointment as a judge and had overseen a previous money laundering charge against Fani-Kayode.
The judge returned the case file to the Chief Judge, Justice Ibrahim Auta, who re-assigned it to Justice Aikawa.
Fani-Kayode’s lawyer Mr Norrison Quakers (SAN) said the court lacked the jurisdiction to try the former minister in Lagos.
According to him, the facts of the case show that all the transactions which the former minister carried out as Director of Media and Publicity of the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation, for which he was charged, took place in Abuja.
Besides, he said the defendant stays in Abuja and has another trial currently going in Abuja in another case.
But, EFCC’s lawyer Rotimi Oyedepo urged the court to refuse the application as, according to him, the transaction instruments “were recovered in Lagos.”
“The consequence of the alleged offence of money laundering is not limited to Abuja, but the entire federation. All the instruments of transaction were brought by Zenith Bank in Lagos.
“The financial institutions used in the transactions have their head offices in Lagos,” Oyedepo said, adding that 13 of the prosecution’s 17 witnesses live in Lagos.
Oyedepo said Fani-Kayode also raised the issue of transfer before Justice Hassan, yet when the file was returned to the Chief Judge, he re-assigned the case to another judge in Lagos rather than one in Abuja.
He argued that the CJ had already exercised his discretion on where the case should be heard by re-assigning it to a judge in Lagos.
Before the application for transfer was moved, Oyedepo had sought to tender receipts showing that Fani-Kayode made a cash payment of N30million to the first prosecution witness, a media consultant, Adewumi Idowu.
The receipts acknowledge cash payments of N24million and N6million.
“The documents were made by the witness. He identified them as the receipts he issued. They are extremely relevant to the facts in issue.
“The receipts form the crux of counts 16 and 17 of the charge. We seek to tender the documents,” Oyedepo said.
But, Quakers objected on the basis that the documents were not the original copies.
He said the prosecution did not satisfy the requirements of Section 88 (c) of the Evidence Act which requires that there must be evidence of a thorough search for an original document before a duplicate can be accepted.
Justice Aikawa adjourned till September 26 and 27 for ruling and continuation of trial.