Salami Ibrahim V. The Federal Republic Of Nigeria (2016)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgment Report – COURT OF APPEAL

MODUPE FASANMI, J.C.A.(Delivering the Leading Judgment)

This is an appeal against the ruling of the Federal High Court Ibadan Judicial Division in charge No. FHC/IB/35C/2015 delivered on the 15th of June, 2015.

The facts of the case are that:

”The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (the EFCC) received a petition from the Central Bank of Nigeria (the CBN) against the Appellant herein and some other person. The petition bordered on criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and stealing of money belonging to Central bank of Nigeria. The petition was supported with an interim report carried out by the auditors of Central Bank of Nigeria. Some of the Defendants before the lower Court were officials of the CBN who were saddled with the responsibilities of coordinating the evacuation, boxing, receiving of deposits from deposit money banks (DMB?s), payment for withdrawals by the DMB and classification of case into currency audited clean (CAC) notes or currency audited dirty (CAD) notes, at the Ibadan branch of Central Bank of Nigeria and other defendants were staff of Deposit Money Banks in Ibadan.

?At the time

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material to the charge before the lower Court, the Appellant herein was an official of Sterling Bank of Nigeria plc, Ibadan branch. The Appellant was also a member of the specie team and it was the responsibility of this team to mop up cash from various branches of the bank in the South West and then move the cash to the CBN. In the course of carrying out this assignment, the Appellant, in collaboration with the officials of CBN allegedly committed various offences ranging from obtaining by false pretence, conspiracy, stealing, criminal breach of trust etc.

Also, in a desperate bid to conceal, suppress and obscure their carefully thought-out crime, the Appellant herein conspired with some employees of the Ibadan branch of CBN to stuff neatly parked and/or cut Newspapers into boxes that were ordinarily supposed to have been filled with mutilated Naira notes of specific denominations generally meant for briquetting. On two occasions, a box of N1000 notes and two (2) boxes of N500 Naira notes (CAD) were boxed with newspapers, and passed to briquetting panel for destruction and this fraud was only discovered at the point of briquetting.

After

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investigation and upon conviction that a prima facie case had been made out against the Appellant and the other Defendants, the Commission preferred an 11 count charge against them on 19th May, 2015 (see pages 2-5 of the record of appeal for the charge). The Appellant and the other Defendants were arraigned before the lower Court in respect of the charge on the 2nd day June, 2015.”

?The Appellant and the other Defendants pleaded not guilty to the respective counts against them. Thereafter the Appellant brought a formal application for bail on the 2nd of June, 2015 with a written address. On the 8th of June 2015, the Respondent filed its counter-affidavit and a written address in opposition to the bail application. A reply on point of law was also filed on behalf of the Appellant on the 9th of June 2015.

Learned Counsel for the parties adopted their written addresses respectively. The lower Court delivered its ruling on the 15th of June, 2015 and refused the Appellant?s application for bail.

?Dissatisfied with the ruling, Appellant filed its notice of appeal on the 15th day of June, 2015 containing four grounds of appeal. The record of appeal was