EFCC Denies Withdrawing Alleged Fraud Case Against Goje
A spokesman for the Economic And Financial Crime Commission Saturday said he was not aware the anti-graft agency has withdrawn its case against Senator Danjuma Goje.
He withdrew from the race after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari and immediately endorsed his rival Ahmed Lawan.
Goje is facing a 21-count charge of misappropriation of N25 billion when he was the governor of Gombe in northeast Nigeria.
Less than 24 hours after his meeting with Buhari, EFCC lawyers told the court on Friday that the Commission was transferring Goje’s case to the office of the attorney-general of the country.
Nigeria currently does not have an attorney-general and minister of justice as President Buhari is yet to appoint ministers since he was sworn in more than a week ago.
When the eight-year-old case came up for an emergency hearing before Justice Babatunde Quadiri of Jos Federal High Court II on Friday instead of the original schedule of June 20, the lead counsel for EFCC in the case Wahab Shittu said the Commission was no longer prosecuting the case.
“We as EFCC counsels are withdrawing from the matter and handing it over to the office of the Attorney-General for continuation with the prosecution,” Shittu told the court.
“As you can, in Court today is a State Counsel from the AGF’s office to formally take over this case from us.“
