Inyang Ekwo, judge of a federal
high court in Abuja, on Monday frowned at the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) for its lateness in filing an amended charge against Mohammed
Bello Adoke, former attorney-general of the federation (AGF).
At the commencement of trial,
Bala Sanga, counsel to the EFCC, had notified the court that the commission has
filed an amended charge against Adoke.
He said the discovery of
additional pieces of evidence necessitated the amendment of the charges filed
on July 17.
Displeased, Ekwo said the EFCC
had more than one month from the last adjourned date to amend and file charges
against the defendants.
He said the case ought to be
given speedy dispensation considering the fact that it was filed in 2017.
He said: “From June 17 to July
17, you did nothing. That means you had one month and you didn’t file the
amended charge. Just a few days to the trial, you filed an amended charge. A
few days to when trial is to commence.
“Although you have freedom to
amend your charge up to the time of judgement, I do not appreciate a situation
where things are not done on time. This is a 2017 matter and I was thinking I
could fast track it but now the prosecution has come up with an amendment.
“I do not have the amended
charges in the court file so I can’t say anything about the amended charge.”
Sanga apologised to the court for
the lateness in filing the charges.
He begged the court for a stand
down to enable him put things in order.
However, the judge refused the
request for a stand down and adjourned the matter till Tuesday for
continuation.
The commission had in February
arraigned Adoke alongside Aliyu Abubakar, a businessman, on a seven-count
charge bordering on money laundering.
The anti-graft commission alleged
that Adoke received gratification to the tune of N300 million from Aliyu
Abubakar in September 2013.
Owing to a petition by the
anti-graft against her in 2018, Nyako, the first trial judge, recused herself
from the case.
Subsequently, the case was
transferred to Ekwo and the accused persons were re-arraigned on June 17.
The charges have now been
increased to 14 counts following the amendment.
In a sister case with suit no
FHC/ABJ/CR/268/2016 and filed in 2016, Adoke was charged alongside seven others
including Dauzia Loya Etete (Dan Etete), former Minister of Petroleum Resources
and Malabu oil and gas limited.
However, his name was expunged
from the charges when the other defendants (Abubakar, Malabu Oil and six other
companies) were re-arraigned on a 48-count charge before Ekwo on July 1, even
though the EFCC denied removing Adoke’s name from the charges despite
documentary evidence.
Adoke is also standing trial on
42 counts of alleged fraud before a federal capital territory high court in
Gwagwalada in what his lawyers called “duplication of charges”.
All the cases can be linked to
the Malabu oil deal of 2011.
Adoke has always denied all the
allegations, accusing the EFCC of manufacturing evidence to implicate him.
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