Bode George

Two days after former President Olusegun Obasanjo accused President Goodluck Jonathan of condoning corruption, a panel of judges at the Supreme Court of Nigeria today quashed the conviction handed Bode George a Peoples Democratic Party chieftain earlier jailed for corruption by a Lagos High Court.

The court discharged and acquitted Mr. George claiming that prosecutors at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had no evidence of Mr. George's intention to commit fraud at the Nigeria Port Authority (NPA) where as chairman of the NPA board he was caught presiding over a contract bazaar the bled the nation of Nigeria.

A panel of judges headed by a controversial judge, John Afolabi Fabiyi JSC, ruled that the charges of"contract splitting"upon which Mr. George was convicted is unknown to law.

The pattern of today's quashing of George's conviction was similar to that of a Lagos Court of Appeal ruling which similarly quashed a death sentence conviction of Major Hamza Al Mustapha's for the murder of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola in 1996. In Lagos, a panel of Court of Appeal cleared former Chief Security Officer of late maximum dictator, Sanni Abacha Mustapha of murder charges under controversial circumstances.
Al Mustapha later wrote a letter thanking President Jonathan for arranging his judicial pardon.

Al Mustapha case was handled by the same lawyer, former president of the Nigeria Bar Association, Joseph B Daudu was Al Mustapha's lawyer in the Lagos case. Mr. Daudu, a senior advocate of Nigeria, also played a lead role in securing Mr. George's freedom today.

Since leaving prison a few years ago, Mr. George had been closely linked to President Jonathan, even sometimes openly bragging that his conviction will be upturned.

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/supreme-court-quashes-corruption-conviction-pdp-chieftain-bode-george

Definitely, if James Onanefe Ibori was convicted here and sentenced in Nigeria, the conviction would also be quashed.

Different ways to make the convicts relevant for the 2015 general election from pardoning a criminal to discharging and acquitting after sentencing to death and now quashing of conviction.

Alams? Cleared.
Bode George? Cleared.
Who next? ....

....Jonathan is playing with fire....his end will be disastrous ..

if this is some form of calculated attempt to curry favour from the SW....then him don enter 1 chance

..omoluabi don't get down like that..

pdp is corruption personified and there is nothing anyone can do about it.
all the intellectuals in pdp have been reduced to nothing while the taut are on rampage.
where are the likes of Pat Utomi, Donald Duke and other great guys with information and vision? what you see around are tukur, annenih, obasanjo, late adedibu and other crude and unrefined dying wicked vampires who are hell bent in living nigeria worse than they met it.

kel4soft: Alams? Cleared.
Bode George? Cleared.
Who next? ....

Rev King and Clifford Orji.
If they will be useful for the 2015 election.

The highest court of the land has spoken, no tear shedding episodes, screams and wailing will reverse anything.You are advised not to dispense futile energies

The Law does not pander to sentiments and emotions but irrefutable evidence beyond all reasonable doubt.

jmaine: The highest court of the land has spoken, no tear shedding episodes, screams and wailing will reverse anything.

The Law does not pander to sentiments but irrefutable evidence beyond all reasonable doubt.

SMH!!

Brimmie:
SMH!!

Changes nothing. . . .

fresh corruption

Those were some of the cases that were taken to court in the midst of the MEDIA DRAMA and PLAYING TO THE GALLERY that went into the 'war' against corruption during OBJ and Yar Adua era. As expected, Nigerians, being DRAMA loving people, cheered on while the DRAMA lasted. However, after the DRAMA and PLAYING TO THE GALLERY, many of those cases could not stand judicial scrutiny.

As for the case of Bode George, the Nigerian people have LOST again. The time, energy and resources that went into prosecuting him are all LOST. He may even sue the state for damages and may end up with billions or millions awarded to him in compensation. And all those shenanigans happened in the name of 'fighting' corruption?

Likewise, in the midst of DRAMA and media fanfare, the OBJ govt slammed charges of corruption against former senate president, Adolphus Wabara; former education minister, Prof. Fabian Osuji and former health minister, Nike Grange.

However, after much DRAMA and dancing in the media the Appeal Court made the following statements while freeing the duo of Adolphus Wabara and Prof. Fabian Osuji of allegations of corruption:

"the charge was BOGUS and failed to establish a prima facie case against the accused persons.... the prosecution failed to attach the list of witnesses and other relevant documents to the charge as required by law....the criminal charge was FRIVOLUS, BASELESS and had no merit and as such could not be sustained"
http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2010/06/02/n50-million-scam-court-frees-wabara-osuji-abdulazeez/

Meanwhile, the Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES) in the fertilizer distribution system instituted by the current govt saved the nation about N25 billion in 2012. The N25 billion would have been lost to corruption if we had continued with the old system of distributing fertilizer. The Integrated Payroll Systeme has also saved the country over N120 billion per annum thru eradication of ghost workers.

Some Boko Haram and pension thieves suspects have been prosecuted and convicted SUCCESSFULLY. Many others, including fuel subsidy thieves are still in court.

It must be noted that many of the cases of corruption that are being prosecuted under this dispensation are the outcome of SILENT double layer investigation. The fuel subsidy thieves for instance were first investigated by a presidential committee on fuel subsidy (which consisted of experts in that field) and later by the EFCC before proceeding to court. This increases the chances of securing conviction in court.

Nigerians would have to choose between DRAMA/PLAYING TO THE GALLERY and real fight against corrupt that yields TANGIBLE BENEFITS.

^^^^^
Real fight against corruption and giving presidential pardon to Alams? , oil theft in Niger Delta reaching its zenith like never before, a billion naira allocated yearly for feeding the presidency, 16votes greater than 18, 6 more than 22, hit man been freed and now Bode ........ lol.
what if corruption is not been fought at all, what should be expected?

Paul John: ^^^^^
Real fight against corruption and giving presidential pardon to Alams? , oil theft in Niger Delta reaching its zenith like never before, a billion naira allocated yearly for feeding the presidency, 16votes greater than 18, 6 more than 22, hit man been fried ........ lol.
what if corruption is not been fought at all, what should be expected?

Liar! There is NOTHING like N1 billion feeding budget for the president. However, If you insist, supply proof to substantiate your claim in the 2013 budget.

The pardon of Alams was wrong but it was a bullet the president had to take for political reasons. The president cannot been seen to be fighting everybody. He will fight some people and appease some others. In addition, Alams had already served his term in court before the pardon. Pardon is meant for sinners not saints.

The others issues you raised are baseless and products of hateful, ethnic and/or partisan sentiments.