Nigeria, April 25 -- While most Nigerians followed the OPL 245 trial at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja Division, via media reports, I was in court at every sitting - except if I was not in town. As a legal practitioner myself, I took keen interest in every detail of the proceedings. I took notes from when proceedings started in 2020 till when the ruling was delivered in 2024. I listened to the testimonies of the 10 witnesses presented by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). I listened to the submissions of the commission's legal counsel.

That the case ended the way it did was inevitable. That Justice Abubakar Idris Kutigi upheld the no case submissions of the seven defendants, discharging and...