Justice Mohammed Sifawa of the Sokoto State High Court has denied a no-case plea by Meng Wei Kun and Xu Kuai, two Chinese nationals charged with attempting to bribe Abdullahi Lawal, the former head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)’s Sokoto zonal office.

Kun and Kuai were detained by the EFCC in 2020 while working for China Zhongao Nigeria Ltd., a Chinese construction company awarded contracts by the Zamfara State Government, after accusations of offering Lawal a N50 million bribe to undermine ongoing investigations into the company’s operations in the state.

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Between 2012 and 2019, the construction company was alleged to have obtained N50 billion in contracts from the Zamfara State Government.

Bello Matawalle, Governor of Zamfara State, in responding to the EFCC’s arrest of the Chinese contractors in 2020, stated that he had earlier “cancelled the unexecuted multi-billion-naira contract awarded to this same Chinese company and requested for the refund of the money”.

Kun and Kuai were tried before Justice Sifawa on a two-count conspiracy and bribery attempt charge on Tuesday.

Kun confirmed that he worked for China Zhongao Nigeria Ltd. He claimed that the previous EFCC Sokoto zonal head had asked him to make some reimbursements, which they agreed would be done in installments. Kun added that they cashed five China Zhongao Nigeria Ltd. checks worth N10 million naira each at the UBA Sokoto branch for the first round of payments.

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According to Kun’s testimony, he informed Lawal that the money was ready for pick-up at the China Zhongao residence in Kasarawa, Sokoto. He said that Lawal showed up alone but before the transaction could be completed, EFCC operatives raided them, arrested both defendants and seized the N50 million.

Despite admitting to signing a search warrant during the seizure and recovery of the said N50 million naira, Kun insisted he had no idea what the warrant meant when shown in court. He agreed that he had seen Lawal, but maintained that the cash in question had been meant as a refund rather than a bribe.

Justice Sifawa adjourned the case until January 31, 2023, stating that “a prima facie case has been established against the defendants, and therefore they must enter a defence”.