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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