Court discharges, acquits ex-NBC DG of N2.5 billion fraud

The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Thursday, discharged and acquitted the former Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Ishaq Kawu, of the alleged N2.5 billion corruption charge.

Delivering judgment, Justice Folashade Giwa-Ogunbanjo held that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) failed to prove the allegations preferred against Kawu and the co-defendants.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Kawu and others were charged on amended five counts of diverting funds meant for the Digital Switch Over (DSO) system introduced by the federal government.

Mr Kawu was arraigned in 2019 alongside Lucky Omoluwa and Dipo Onifade, Chairman of Pinnacle Communications Limited and the Chief Operating Officer respectively, over their alleged complicity in the mismanagement of the N2.5 billion seed grant.

ICPC alleged that the former NBC director-general hoodwinked the then Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, to approve the payment of N2.5 billion to Pinnacle Communications Limited, a private company owned by his friend, Omoluwa who is the 3rd defendant.

According to the anti-graft agency, Mr Omoluwa, whose firm was not qualified for such grant, subsequently transferred N537.25 million out of the N2.5 billion to a Bureau De Change operator for the dollar equivalent.

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The BDC operator was said to have delivered the dollars in cash to the 3rd defendant (Omoluwa) at his residence in Kaduna.

Although the anti-corruption commission earlier filed a 12-count charge against the defendants, it was later amended to five counts.
The offence, the anti-graft agency said, is contrary to Section 26(1) (c ) and punishable under Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.″

(NAN)