Former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall Adesola Retd and 10 others facing a N22.8b fraud trial are begging the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC) for soft landing.
The accused persons are making moves to enter plea bargain with the Federal Government.
On Thursday, the EFCC tendered a draft copy of the terms of the potential plea bargain before Justice Mohammed Idris of the Federal High Court, Lagos.
Amosun is standing trial alongside Air Vice Marshal Jacob Adigun and Air Commodore Gbadebo Olugbenga, all of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), and eight private firms.
The accused are standing trial alongside their firms — Delfina Oil and Gas Limited, Mcallan Oil and Gas Limited, Hebron Housing and Properties Company Limited and Trapezites BDC Fonds, Pricey Limited, Deegee Oil and Gas Limited, Timsegg Investment Limited and Solomon Health Care Limited.
The defendants were arraigned by the anti-graft agency on June 29, on 26 counts of conspiracy, stealing, money laundering, concealing of proceeds of crime and conversion of funds belonging to the Air Force to their personal use.
The accused persons were said to have committed the offences between 5th March 2014, and 4th May 2015.
“The offences contravene Sections 18(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) (Amendment) Act, 2012, and are punishable under Section 15(3) of the same Act,” EFCC had said.
But the military top guns pleaded not guilty to any of the offences.
Amosun, Adigun and Olugbenga were granted bail of N500m each with two sureties in the like sum after the pleas were entered.
However, the court ordered the accused persons to deposit their passports in its custody pending trial.
At the resumed hearing of the matter on Friday, EFCC prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo, informed the court that the defendants had began plea bargain negotiations with the government.
He tendered a draft copy of the terms of the plea bargain to the court, and indicated that the defendants were already in possession of their copies of the terms.
Oyedepo urged the court to allow the Commission to open the defendants’ trial.
However, the defence counsel, — Mr. Norrison Quakers (SAN), Mr. Kemi Balogun (SAN), Chief Bolaji Ayorinde (SAN), Mr. Rotimi O. (SAN) and Mr. A. Etuokwu — opposed the commencement of trial.
“The business of the day is the report of compliance with the order of the court regarding the verification of the defendants’ bail conditions,”. The defence argued.
They countered that EFCC failed to inform the court that it had yet to obey the order.
“The prosecution left out a fundamental issue, which is the court admitting bail to the accused,” Amosu’s lawyer, Chief Ayorinde said.
“As at now, the accused are still in the custody of the Commission or prisons’ custody. We have satisfied all the conditions.”
In his own argument, Norris Quakers said the prosecution was not in a position to tell the court that it was ready for trial.
“We are in court to inform it as to the state of affairs as par the bail. We are surprised that the prosecution failed to tell the court the steps taken on the bail. Let the prosecution tell the court the report of their finding,” he said.
Although he admitted that the defendants’ lawyers met with the EFCC for the plea bargain, he said since the first meeting, the Commission failed to communicate with them, and only served them the draft of the agreement in court yesterday.
He added that though the defendants initiated the idea of a plea bargain, they needed to be out of the EFCC custody before they would be able to negotiate properly with the prosecution.
“When a man is in a custodian environment, anything you want him to say, he would say; anything you want him to do, he would do. We should not be stampeded or boxed into a corner,” Quakers said.
He argued further that defendants were entitled under Section 36(6) (b) of the 1999 Constitution to be given adequate time and facility to prepare their defence.
Olugbenga’s lawyer, Mr. Etuokwu, while aligning himself with the submissions of the two senior lawyers, urged the court to discountenance the prosecution’s applications to commence the trial today.
Responding, Oyedepo referred the court to its former ruling which stated that the matter was slated for trial.
“The court will also see that we did not oppose the bail applications. We didn’t induce them to approach us for plea bargain,” Oyedepo said.
“On the issue of verification, we are in the process of complying with the court order. The accused persons took their pleas and on the second day, the Court Registrars forwarded some documents to the Commission for authentication, and we took our time during the holidays to verify these documents.
“I urge the court to allow us, if they said they no longer believe in the plea bargain, we are ready for trial”.
After back and forth arguments by the parties, Justice Idris, in a bench ruling, upheld the defendants’ request and ordered the EFCC to conclude the verification of the defendants’ bail conditions on or before Monday 11th.
The court also noted that the defendants had shown a “clear, positive and strong intention” to settle with the government.
The judge adjourned till September 12 and 13, 2016 for trial.
According to the charge, the accused persons are alleged to have converted of N21, 467, 634, 707.43 billion, property of the NAF, which sum was derived from stealing, to their personal use.
They were also accused of indirectly converting N5, 291, 306, 950.28 Billion, N3.6bn property of the (NAF).
In another instance, the EFCC also alleged that Amosun and the others stole N323, 319, 283.81 from the accounts of the NAF to purchase for themselves a property situated at No.1, River Street, Wuse II Abuja.
Amosu, Adgun and Olugbenga, were also alleged to have between July 17, and September 16, 2014, “used the British Pounds Sterling equivalent of sum of N663, 443,291 million, removed from the accounts of the Nigerian Air Force to purchase for yourselves two properties situated at 50-52 Tenterden Grove, London (NW41TH) and 93B Shirehall Park, London NW4 2QU, United Kingdom.”
Other counts include purchasing a property situated at 1, River Street, Wuse II Abuja with N202, 920, 200 million, belonging to the NAF and jointly removing N428, 139, 539 million, from the NAF accounts “to renovate and purchase medical equipment for their hospital, Solomon HealthCare Limited, locates at 24, Adeniyi Jones Street, Ikeja Lagos.”
