Turaki was a minister during  former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.

In his ruling, Justice Inyang Ekwo overturned all 16 counts brought by the EFCC against the former minister, claiming that his trial was not only illegitimate but also unconstitutional.

The judge pronounced the trial unconstitutional following the refusal of the anti-corruption agency to give effect to a letter by the Attorney-General of the Federation to make the case file in respect of the charges available to his office.

“Under the 1999 Constitution and the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, the AGF, who is the Chief Law Officer of the Federation, has inherent powers to review any criminal charge, take over the trial, and even terminate the charges as his office may deem fit,” Justice Ekwo said.

He held that the EFCC missed it by ignoring and neglecting the AGF’s letter of April 4, 2020, which demanded the case file for review to avoid malicious prosecution.

Justice Ekwo stated that any law enforcement agency that ignored or neglected the directive of the AGF did so at its own peril and proceeded to invoke sections 105 of ACJA and 21 and 23 of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2012, and Section 174 of the 1999 Constitution to declare Turaki’s trial unlawful, illegal, null and void and struck it out.

On the no-case motion, the court concluded that it was established that Turaki was not a signatory to the ministry’s account and that there was no formal proof that he authorized any payment or transfer of funds, even though the defendants dislodged the evidence of the prosecution witnesses during cross-examination.

The former minister was not a member of the Ministerial Tenders Board, according to the court, and there was no money flowing from the ministry’s account to his company.