Mohammed Abacha, son of late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, has lost his legal battle to stop the Federal Government from prosecuting him on 123-count charge preferred against him for allegedly receiving stolen money belonging to the Federal Government.
The Supreme Court in a unanimous judgment on Friday ordered that he should go back to an Abuja high Court and face his trial as his appeal challenging the jurisdiction of the trial court lacked merit.
The Attorney General of the Federation, exercising his powers under section 174 of the Nigerian Constitution, had filed four different criminal charges containing 123 counts against Mohammed Abacha and Abubakar Bagudu relating to conspiracy under section 97 [1] of the Penal code; receiving stolen property dishonestly under section 317 of the Penal Code and concealing stolen property under section 319 of the penal code.
Mr Abacha, however, challenged the jurisdiction of the trial court, the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, on the ground that, having regards to the peculiar facts leading to those charges, it would be needless putting him on trial as no offence had been disclosed in the supporting proof of evidence and that even if offences were disclosed, no prima facie case had been established against him to warrant his trial.