ABUJA, NIGERIA — Justice Hamza Muazu of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Tuesday issued a final order directing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to produce its witness in the alleged procurement fraud case against former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele or risk having the case dismissed .
CDA News Nigeria gathered that the judge held that the witness must be brought to court by the anti-graft agency on the April 27 adjourned date or else the court would do the needful in line with the provisions of the law.
Justice Muazu also imposed a fine of N500,000 on the EFCC for its failure to bring its last witness, Deputy Commissioner of Police, DCP Elohor Edwin Okpoziakeo, to court on Tuesday to give evidence as scheduled.
The DCP was one of those who investigated Emefiele for the alleged fraud but was said to be absent in court to attend to personal matters at the expense of the official engagement.
At the resumed trial on Tuesday, counsel to EFCC, A.O. Mohammed, informed the court that the witness, though notified of the need for his presence, was not in court due to administrative procedures.
The prosecutor told the court that he was directed on Monday at the Force Headquarters to write a formal letter to the Inspector-General of Police formally requesting the presence of the DCP as a witness.
Mohammed explained that he promptly wrote the letter as directed, but the DCP later informed him of a personal matter at the FCT High Court in Gwagwalada Division, where his personal account was under a garnishee order.
CDA News report that He pleaded with the judge to grant an adjournment, stressing the witness’s importance as he “worked closely with the Special Panel that investigated the defendant”.
However, the request for adjournment was vehemently opposed by Matthew Burkaa, SAN, who stood for Emefiele at the proceedings.
The senior lawyer referred the judge to Section 396(3) and (4) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, which limits each party to only five adjournments from the arraignment till final judgment.
Burkaa argued that the EFCC had already been granted adjournments eight times as against the provisions of the law, adding that the prosecution made its choice by allowing the witness to prioritize a personal matter over official engagement.
He also noted that the anti-graft agency had applied for and secured an accelerated trial of the defendant, yet between 2023 till date, the court had indulged the prosecution with multiple adjournments while Emefiele, despite coming from Lagos to attend trial, had never once applied for an adjournment.
In his ruling, Justice Muazu agreed with the defence counsel that EFCC had exhausted the five adjournments allotted to it by law, but stated that the court still retains discretion for an adjournment if it is in the interest of justice.
The judge held that an investigator is not one that should be shut out in a matter of this nature.
However, Justice Muazu imposed a fine of N500,000 on the anti-graft agency for delaying the trial despite being granted accelerated hearing, citing Section 396(6) of the ACJA.
He then adjourned the case to April 27 and 28 for continuation of trial, warning that failure to produce the witness could attract legal consequences.
Emefiele is facing trial before Justice Hamza Muazu in the suit marked FCT/HC/CR/577/2023, brought against him by EFCC on an amended 20-count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust, forgery, abuse of office, conspiracy to obtain by false pretence, and obtaining money by false pretence while serving as CBN governor.
He was, among others, alleged to have knowingly obtained by false pretence the sum of $6,230,000 purportedly meant for international election observers for the 2023 general election.
He was also accused of conferring corrupt advantages on two companies — April 1616 Nigeria Ltd and Architekon Nigeria Ltd . The former CBN chief has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
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