The Abuja Division of the Federal High Court has just
dismissed a 42-count criminal charge pending against the Former Governor of
Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva.
Trial Justice Ahmed Ramat Mohammed ruled that the charge
which was preferred against the erstwhile governor by the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, constituted an abuse of court process.
Sylva was in the charge, alleged to have used three separate
companies and siphoned the sum of N19.2bn from the Bayelsa state treasury.
EFCC insisted that the fraud was perpetuated between 2009
and 2012 when Sylva held sway as governor of the state.
Sylva is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC,
and was a member of the transition committee of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Director of Public Prosecution, DPP, Mr. M.S Diri, had
earlier withdrawn another six-court charge against Sylva, wherein he was
accused of involvement in the illegal diversion of N6.5billion also from the
coffers of Bayelsa State.
