Major General I. Sani V. Nigerian Army (2009)

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TINUADE AKOMOLAFE-WILSON, J.C.A.

This appeal is against the decisions of the Military Special Court Martial which sat at the Army Headquarters Garrison Magadishu Cantonment, Nigerian Army, Asokoro Abuja in respect of charge Number NA/COAS/GI/39: Nigerian Army vs. Major-General I. Sani presided over by AVM J. M. Gabum (NAF/1366) in respect of Rulings delivered on 11th July, 2016, 1st November, 2016, 25th April, 2017 and the final judgment on the 20th July, 2017 respectively. The Appellant was arraigned on a criminal charge, dated 1st July, 2017 signed by Lt.- General T. Y. Buratai (N/7630).

The charges range from Disobedience to Particular Orders contrary to and punishable under Section 56 (2) of the Armed Forces Act, cap A20 LFN 2004, offences in Relation to Public and Service Property punishable under Section 66 (a) of the Armed Forces Act, Making of False Documents contrary to section 90(a) of the Armed Forces Act, Cheating Punishable under Section 113 (a) of the Armed Forces Act, and Fraudulent dealing with property triable under section 114 of the Armed Forces Act and punishable under Section 177 of the Penal Code,

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Cap page 89 LFN 2004. The charges are at pages 3919 to 3927 of volume 7 of the Record of Appeal.
The lower Special court Martial was also convened by the Chief of Army Staff vide a convening Order dated 27th April, 2016.

The trial commenced on the 4th of July, 2016 and the final Judgment was delivered on the 20th of July 2017. The judgment/finding of the lower Court martial are at pages 3865 – 3892 while the sentence is contained at pages 3894-3896 of Volume 8 of the Record of Appeal. Against the said rulings and judgment the Appellant first filed a Notice of Appeal containing thirteen grounds of appeal on 14th November, 2017 at pages 4874 – 4880 of the supplementary record. Appellant also filed a second Notice of Appeal dated 7th March, 2018, containing fourteen grounds of appeal, at pages 5047 – 5058 of the supplementary record. The Appellant’s Brief of Argument is based on the latter Notice of appeal dated 7th March 2018, containing fourteen (14) grounds of appeal.

?The Statement of facts as agreed by both parties is as follows:
The Appellant was until his arraignment a Major General in the Nigerian Army and the Chief of

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Transformation and Innovation at the Army Headquarters. He was appointed “as the Defence Headquarters Liaison Officer to Ministry of Federal Capital Territory on Comprehensive Development of Asokoro (Annex) District on the basis of Land Swap vide a letter Reference No. CDS/13/Q dated 27th September, 2012 by the then Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Oluseyi O. Petinrin. The letter is pages 4067-4069 volume 9 f the Record of Appeal. The Appellant was also authorized by the then Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Kenneth T. I. Minimah to “conclude all land transactions as it affects the land utilization for the Nigerian Army and obtain certificate of occupancy for the Nigerian Army Garrison Barracks” by letter Ref No. NA/COAS/G4/67/1 dated 17th September 2014 titled “Authority to Conclude Asokoro Annex B Layout Cadastral Zone 04 Land Transaction Major General Ibrahim Sani.” The letter is at page 4066 of volume 9 of the Record of Appeal.

?Following the creation of Abuja as the Federal Capital Territory, in 1976 and the subsequent relocation of the Ministry of Defence from Lagos to Abuja in the early 1990s, it became necessary to allocate a

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strategic large expanse of land to the Nigerian Armed Forces (i.e. the Army, Navy and Air Force) for the building of military barracks and administrative offices for its officers and men.

The Nigerian Army Guards Brigade was originally allocated Plot 1884 in Asokoro (A04) District, measuring approximately 688 hectares for use as Military Barracks under the title FG 2319 dated 16th July, 1996 by the FCT Administration. The present Mogadishu Cantonment was built on a portion of about 62.6 hectares, while the remaining 626 hectares remained undeveloped until sometime in 2012 when the attention of the FCT Administration was drawn to a resolution by the Armed Forces to share the undeveloped portion among the Nigeria Army, Nigeria Navy and the Nigeria Air Force. The undeveloped portion of land was processed, and subdivided into three (3) Plots numbered 5574, 5573 & 5469, measuring approximately 250.4 hectares, 156.5 hectares and 156.5 hectares to the Army, the Navy and the Air Force respectively. The map showing the sharing formula of the land amongst the three (3) armed services, admitted as Exhibit D 11 appears at pages 4275 ? 4276 of Volume 9 of the Record of Appeal.

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