Justice Olubunmi Abike-Fadipe who freed the ex-minister held that the EFCC failed to establish a prima facie case against him.
Former Minister of Aviation Femi Fani-Kayode (FFK) has expressed relief following the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)’s acquittal in a medical forgery case against him.
He said, “I thank God for my family and my children. Four criminal cases by the EFCC in the space of the last 18 years has been quite an ordeal for me because it hurt my family, my career, my business, my everything.
“So, today, we got the fourth and final one done. By the grace of God, I can now live my life, face my family, take care of my children properly, my nine children.”
Earlier on Tuesday, a Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, the Lagos State capital, acquitted and discharged Fani-Kayode of the charge of medical forgery levelled against him.
Justice Olubunmi Abike-Fadipe who freed the former minister while delivering ruling on the no case submission filed by his counsel held that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against him.
The court upheld the no case-submission filed by his counsel, Norrison Quakers (SAN) and ruled that Fani-Kayode had no case to answer as the EFCC did not link him to the offence.
In her ruling, Justice Abike-Fadipe said that the prosecution failed to present the defendant’s associates who collected money from him or the lawyer who claimed that the defendant had instructed his law firm to take the medical reports to the Federal High Court.
Before the court, Fani-Kayode was facing a 12-count charge brought against him by the EFCC following his alleged use of forged medical report(s), which he tendered before Justice Daniel Osiagor of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, where he was being prosecuted by the EFCC for an alleged N4.9billion fraud.
The former minister, however, denied the allegations.
