Lukman Olabiyi
Former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Maurice Iwu has lost the bid to transfer N1.23 billion fraud charge slammed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), from Lagos to Abuja.
The trial judge, Justice Nicholas Oweibo, of the Federal High Court, Lagos, yesterday, dismissed an application filed by Prof Iwu for the transfer of the case from Lagos to Abuja.
The judge, in his ruling, said, the application lacked merit, and noted that the list of witnesses submitted by EFCC showed that most of the witnesses were in Lagos, with some retired, hence “justice will be better served for the trial to proceed in Lagos”.
Iwu, who was arraigned on four counts of money laundering and fraud, had through his lawyer, Mr. Ahmed Raji (SAN), pleaded that the case be transferred from Lagos to Abuja on the basis of his old age.
At the previous proceedings, Raji had told Justice Oweibo that at the age of 70 years, his client was too old to be coming from Abuja to the Lagos Division of the court to stand trial. Besides, Raji said the transactions leading to the charges against Iwu took place in Abuja.
But the prosecuting counsel for the EFCC, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, opposed the prayer. After declining the application yesterday, Justice Oweibo adjourned till April 28 for trial.
The EFCC had, in October, last year, arraigned Iwu on four counts, wherein he was accused of laundering N1.23bn in the build-up to the 2015 general elections, in which Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) defeated the then incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan.