Chief Timipre Sylva
A Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday, November 26, for the third time dismissed a case against a former governor of Bayelsa state, Timipre Sylva.
Justice Ademola Adeniyi in his ruling said the prosecutor, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC ) is abusing judicial process by bringing the same charges against the same individual in the same court.
He said the repeated suits by the anti-graft agency on the former governor only drives at one thing – to convict the defendant.
He added that the case has been on since 2012.
“The criminal charge against the individual is self-evident as an abuse of judicial process,” Adeniyi said.
Sylva, who is currently contesting for governorship in Bayelsa under the All Progressive Congress platform has been under several accusations by the EFCC diversion of funds from thw Bayelsa state coffers.
The EFCC had filed 50-count charge bordering on stealing to the tune of N19.2 billion, against Sylva.
He was accused alongside three others – Francis Okokuro, Gbenga Balogun, and Samuel Ogbuku – for allegedly using three companies, Marlin Maritime Limited, Eat Catering Services Limited, and Haloween-Blue Construction and Logistics Limited to transfer N19.2 billion belonging to the state government.
The money the EFCC said was meant to cushion the payment of the salaries of state government workers.
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