[BREAKING] N544m Grass Cutting Contract Scandal: Court Discharges, Acquits Ex-SGF, Babachir Lawal
Babachir Lawal, a former secretary to the government of the federation, has been cleared of the N544 million in contract fraud charges that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, or EFCC, had brought against him.
On Friday, the Court declared that the anti-graft agency had utterly failed to construct a case against the former SGF.
Justice Charles Agbaza ruled on Babachir Lawal’s no case motion, finding that the EFCC had asserted that none of the 11 witnesses who gave testimony for the EFCC had established any elements of any crime.
The Judge held that EFCC did not establish that Babachir Lawal was either a member of the Presidential Initiative for North East PINE that awarded the contract or a member of the Ministerial Tenders Board that vetted and gave approval to the disputed contract.
Besides, Justice Agbaza held that EFCC also failed to link Babachir Lawal with Bureau of Public Procurement BPP that issued a certificate of no objection to the contract before it was awarded.
In, the Judge discharged and acquitted all the defendants in the 10-count criminal charges against them for want of evidence to link them with the purported offences.
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Babachir Lawal alongside his younger brother, Hamidu Lawal; Suleiman Abubakar; Apeh Monday and two companies, Rholavision Engineering Limited and Josmon Technologies Limited were prosecuted by the EFCC before Justice Charles Agbaza.
They faced a 10-count charge bordering on fraud relating to the removal of evasive plant species to the tune of N544 million for which they pleaded not guilty.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC had on Monday, November 30, 2020 re-arraigned the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal before Justice Agbaza.
One of the charges read, “That you, Engineer Babachir David Lawal, while being the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and a director of Rholavision Engineering Ltd on or about the 22nd August 2016 at Abuja, in the Abuja Judicial Division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory did knowingly hold indirectly private interest in the contract awarded to Josmon Technological Ltd but executed by Rholavision Engineering Ltd for the removal of invasive plant species and simplified irrigation to the tune of N258,132,735.99 (Two Hundred and Fifty-eight Million, One hundred and Thirty-two Thousand, Seven Hundred and Thirty-five Naira, Ninety-nine kobo) only, by the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) though the Presidential Initiative for North East (PINE) and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 12 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.”
