A Federal High Court sitting in Kano on Tuesday dismissed a case of money laundering filed against a 2020 Kano gubernatorial election candidate, Abdulkareem Saleh Abdulsalam, known better as A. A. Zaura.
Then Presiding Judge, Justice Ambrose Lewis Allagoa held that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt, added that the prosecution did not establish criminal evidence against the defendant.
Justice Allagoa said the prosecution left a serious doubt in the mind of the court, explaining that the prosecution pursued its case based on suspicion as against the defendant while failing to prove the charges against him.
The court stated that the EFCC accused the defendant of defrauding a Kuwaiti national named Shiekh Jamman Al-Azmi of monies amounting to over one million dollars, and that the failure of the nominal complainant to appear before the court to give evidence had rendered all the testimonies by the prosecution witnesses null.
The court further said the two witnesses brought by the anti-graft cannot and were not in the position to relate what transpired between the nominal complainant and the defendant.
The court then dismissed all the nine count charges filed against the defendant and acquitted him.
