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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday closed its case against a former governor of Oyo State, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, who is being tried for an alleged fraud of N4.7 billion.
Ladoja and a former Commissioner for Finance in Oyo State, Waheed Akanbi, are facing eight count charge of corruption
The EFCC closed its case against the defendants on Tuesday after his last witness, Abubakar Madaki, an investigator, was cross-examined by the defence counsel — Messrs Bolaji Onilenla and Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika.
Upon the closure of the prosecution’s case, the defence counsel hinted that they would be filing applications for no-case submission on behalf of their clients.
Ladoja and Akanbi were first arraigned in 2008 before Justice A.R. Mohammed of the Federal High Court but they challenged the validity of the charges all the way to the Supreme Court over a period of seven years before the apex court in 2015 dismissed their appeal and sent them back to the high court to face their trial.
They were subsequently re-arraigned on December 14, 2016, before Justice Mohammed Idris at the Federal High Court in Lagos.
The charges against Ladoja and Akanbi border on money laundering and unlawful conversion of funds belonging to Oyo State to their own.