The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has officially filed an appeal challenging the acquittal of former Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, and his former personal assistant, Oyebode Atoyebi, on money laundering charges.
Ikuforiji and Atoyebi were initially charged in 2012 before the Federal High Court in Lagos, Nigeria on a 54-count indictment related to alleged money laundering of N338.8 million. After a lengthy 12-year legal battle, they were acquitted by Justice Mohammed Liman on June 24, 2014.
Justice Liman ruled that the EFCC failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, prompting the EFCC to file an appeal through its counsel, Godwin Obla, on September 30, 2014. Obla argued that the trial court erred in law by dismissing the charges under Section 1(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2004, which was repealed by an Act in 2011. The EFCC also challenged the lower court’s interpretation that the money laundering laws applied only to natural persons and corporate bodies, excluding government entities.
In 2016, the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal agreed with the EFCC and ordered a retrial. The defendants, however, escalated the case to the Supreme Court, which upheld the appellate court’s decision for a fresh trial. The case was reassigned to Justice Liman, who once again acquitted both defendants on June 24, 2024.
The EFCC continues to assert that Ikuforiji and Atoyebi received cash payments exceeding the legal threshold set by the Money Laundering Act without using a financial institution,
