Court Discharges, Acquits Ex Oyo State Governor, Ladoja, Of N4.7bn Fraud Charge

A Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, has found a former Oyo State governor Rasheed Ladoja and a former Commissioner for Finance, Waheed Akanbi, not guilty of the N4.7 billion fraud allegations levelled against them.

EFCC had in November, re-arraigned Ladoja and his former Commissioner for Finance Akanbi for allegedly converting N4.7billion from the state treasury to their personal uses.

In the amended charge, the EFCC added that Ladoja allegedly “compelled” a broker to sell the state’s shares. The EFCC alleged that the former governor did not remit N1.9billion realised from the sale of the shares.

The commission told the court that the money allegedly went to Ladoja, his family and friends and was not refunded.

However, in his ruling on Friday Justice Mohammed Idris stated that the prosecution was not consistent with the amount of money missing from the sale of the Oyo State Government’s shares. The court, thereafter, found them not guilty of all the 11 count.