TRIAL commenced in the N976 million fuel subsidy fraud suit instituted against two oil marketers - Mr Seun Ogunbambo and Habila Theck as well as their company, Fargo Petroleum by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo of a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja, on Wednesday.
The anti-graft commission and its witness, however, failed to tender any document before the court to back its allegation of subsidy fraud against the defendants.
At the resumed hearing of the matter, the anti-graft agency’s counsel, Francis Usani, called its first witness, Abdulrasheed Ahmed Bawa, a Senior Detective Superintendent, who was part of the team put together to investigate the oil subsidy fraud to give evidence.
Bawa, while being led in evidence, spoke of the form his team investigations took and the discoveries they made but counsel for the defendants, Adebayo Adenipekun (SAN), called the attention of the court to what he described as a strange development.
Adenipekun expressed his worries that there was nothing tendered to back up the testimony being given by the witness. “My Lord, the evidence of this witness is contrary to Section 125 of the Evidence Act which we are all abreast of. I feel very uncomfortable with a witness being led orally without tendering any document before the court.
“I don’t want to be interjecting the proceeding. I think this strange method of the prosecution, being objected to by me, will be officially communicated to the court because I am not comfortable with this line of evidence. This is an attempt to prejudice the mind of the court.
Tribune
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