Adeyemi Ikuforiji, a former speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, has described his acquittal from money laundering-related charges and prosecution that spanned over 12 years as a harrowing experience.
The speaker also described his acquittal by a Federal High Court in Lagos on Monday, clearing him of the 54 charges brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), as a rebirth.
Justice Mohammed Liman dismissed the charges brought by the EFCC, ruling that the prosecution did not meet the legal burden of proof required.
Addressing newsmen on Wednesday in Lagos, Ikuforiji said: “I am a very happy man. It feels so great to be free after 12 and a half years of prosecution and persecution.
“It is a long story; I am extremely grateful to God. When I got out of the court, I called my wife Mayowa, because I did not tell her while going to the court that day.
“I was even joking with my friend when the judge came, that if I had seen a Black Maria, I would have to run away. I always believed in what Almighty Allah decreed. But there are some things as a man in the flesh that you begin to ask questions.
“I was at the House of Assembly for 12 years; for 10 years, I was speaker and there was no time the lawmakers fought. The Lagos Assembly was the best because of the harmonious relationship.
“But if after 10 years of being a speaker and leading a progressive house, making progressive laws, even the National Assembly came to learn some things from us, we passed the FOI Act before them even the Child Rights Law. “
Ikuforiji, who served as Lagos speaker from 2005 to 2015, said he was wrongly prosecuted but would not sue the EFCC for that.
“I suffered for 12 and half years over wrongful allegations, I suffered unnecessarily for that period, what was my offence and what did I do?
“A faceless petitioner wrote to the EFCC that the assembly arm twisted the Lagos State government to pay N500 million to it monthly and later, I was accused of embezzling the money, amounting to N7 billion.
“Is that not ridiculous that the members did not do anything that I allegedly made away with N500m for 14 months?
“I suffered the agony for over 12 and half years. Many sleepless nights; I thank my family, colleagues, friends and the media for standing by me,” he said.
