The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal has discharged former Chairman of Daar communications PLC, Raymond Dokpesi of charges bothering on violation of the nation’s procurement law after six years of prosecution.
The charges were filed against Dokpesi and his company by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Dokpesi, his company, DAAR Investment and Holdings Ltd, were arraigned on a seven-count charge bordering on alleged procurement fraud and breach of public trust.
He was alleged to have received N2.1 billion from the office of the national security adviser (ONSA) between October 2014 and March 2015, during the tenure of Sambo Dasuki, former national security adviser, for services not rendered.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had called 13 witnesses in the course of the trial.
On November 21, 2018, John Tsoho, trial judge, had struck out Dokpesi’s no-case submission and ordered him to open his defence.
Aggrieved, Dokpesi approached the court of appeal seeking to upturn the trial court’s decision.
Delivering judgment in the appeal on Thursday, Elfrieda Williams-Dawodu, justice of the appellate court in Abuja, held that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against the appellants.
