The Court of Appeal in Gombe State has ordered that the case involving a former Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Abdu Bulama and four others to be reassigned to another Federal High Court for retrial.
It could be recalled; the former minister was arraigned by the Maiduguri Zonal Office of the EFCC, on Friday, May 29, 2018 before Justice Isa Hamman Dashen of the Federal High Court, Damaturu, Yobe State on a seven count charge that bordered on money laundering to the tune of N450 million.
Bulama was prosecuted alongside Mohammed Kadai, a former Commissioner for Integrated and Rural Development in Yobe State and Deputy Coordinator of Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation, Abba Gana Tata; Muhammad Mamu and Hassan Ibn Jaks.
In the cause of the trial, counsel for the EFCC, Mukhtar Ali Ahmed presented six witnesses and tendered several documents that were admitted in evidence by the court.
At the close of the prosecution’s case, the defendants opted for a “no case submission”. Justice Isa Hamman Dashen of the Federal High Court, upheld the “no case submission”, discharged and acquitted all the defendants.
Dissatisfied with the ruling, the EFCC filed an appeal, asking the Appellate Court to side aside the decision of the lower court.
The Appeal Court in its judgment of March 3, 2021, upheld the argument of the EFCC that the lower court erred in discharging and acquitting the defendants. The judgment read by Justice Tunde O. Awotoye, held that “the charge No. FHC/DM/CR/25/2018 FRN VS DR ABDU BULAMA & 4 OTHERS is ordered to be remitted back to the lower court to be reassigned to another Federal High Court Judge other than Hon. Justice Isah H. Dashen to be heard de novo.”
The court held that “…there is inferential evidence against the respondents which should not be brushed aside.
Investigations by the EFCC revealed that Bulama and co-defendants received and shared the said sum which was provided by Mrs. Diezani Alison Madueke, former Minister of Petroleum Resources, to influence the outcome of the 2015 Presidential Election.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
