Justice Rita Ofili-
Ajumogobia of a Federal High Court in Lagos last Monday dismissed a no-case submission by Raymond Omatseye, who was charged with contract scam.
Omatseye, former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), is standing trial on an amended 27-count charge bordering on contract scam.
He is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Ofili-Ajumogobia, while dismissing the application for a no-case submission by the accused, ordered him to answer to the charges leveled against him.
Our correspondent  reports that Omatseye was re-arraigned on Jan. 21, 2013, on the amended charge.
He had pleaded not guilty to the charge and was granted bail.
The prosecution, led by Chief Godwin Obla (SAN), had opened its case on Feb. 4, 2013, and called three witnesses.
All the witnesses had given various testimonies before the court, as to the nature and form of contract awarded by the accused while serving as the Director-General of NIMASA.
Obla closed the case for the prosecution on October 13, 2014.
Our correspondent  reports that at the close of the prosecution’s case, the accused had brought forward a no-case submission, on the ground that the prosecution failed to prove its case against him.
Defence counsel, Mr Olusina Sofola (SAN), arguing the application on behalf of his client, had urged the court to discharge and acquit the accused in accordance with Section 286 of the Criminal Procedure Act.
Sofola had argued that all counts of the charge save for counts 21 and 22, should be struck out as being incompetent.
He had argued that the act of awarding the contracts was omitted from the counts, noting that the offence is actually the award of the contract, and not the approval of the contract.
Besides, Sofola had argued that Exhibit PD 16 Z , otherwise known as the “approved revised threshold” for service-wide application, which contained the revised monetary threshold, had no commencement date and so was unreliable.
He said that it must be showed that the revised monetary threshold was in force at the time the accused was alleged to have contravened the Public Procurement Act.
Sofola had, therefore, urged the court to uphold the no-case submission and discharge and acquit the accused.
Delivering her ruling on the no-case submission, Ofili-Ajumogobia, however, held that it was an abject misconception for the accused to contend that the offence was committed when the award was actually made.