The Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, has discharged and acquitted a former Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Patrick Akpobolokemi.
He had been charged with alleged fraud amounting to about N2.6bn.
In a lead judgment on Friday, a three-man appellate court panel upheld the no-case submission filed by Akpobolokemi in response to the criminal charges.
The Court overruled the decision of the Federal High Court in Lagos, which had dismissed Akpobolokemi’s no-case submission in October 2017.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had arraigned Akpobolokemi alongside five others , in December 2015,for allegedly diverting the funds from the coffers of NIMASA .
The anti-graft agency claimed the funds were approved by ex-President Goodluck Jonathan for the implementation of a security project tagged, “International Ship and Ports Security Code in Nigerian Ports.”
