Court To Rule On Dele Belgore’s Fraud Charges On October 2

Judgement To Be Delivered On October 2

In respect to the move to stop the charges against Dele Belgore, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on Thursday fixed October 2 for ruling.

Dele Belgore is standing trial on a N450m money laundering charge, he was arraigned along with Prof. Abubakar Suleiman, a former Minister of National Planning, before Justice Mohammed Aikawa, on five counts bordering on money laundering.

Diezani Allison-Madueke, a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, was also named in the charge, but is said to be “at large.”

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had alleged that the defendants conspired to “directly take possession of the N450m which they reasonably ought to have known formed part of the proceeds of an unlawful act.”

They all pleaded not guilty to the charges.

At the last adjournment, the counsel to the first accused, Mr. Ebun Shofunde (SAN), had brought a motion before the court that a certificate of identification in the proof of evidence was altered.

The court had been urged to put a stop to the charges before it against Dele Belgore, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, the EFCC prosecutor objected to the hearing of the motion, citing Section 396 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.

He argued that even if the court was to hear the motion, the ruling of the motion should be made at the time of delivery of the judgment.

“Section 396 is not seeking to restrict the rights of the accused, it allows the accused to bring any objection and allows the court to determine it at the point of delivering judgment.

“Where the statute provides for a mode of doing a particular act, that act must be done in line with that procedure,” Oyedepo said.

Justice Aikawa fixed October 2 for ruling on the objection and for possible trial.