The trial of a former
governor of Plateau State, Joshua Dariye, before Justice Adebukola Banjoko of
the FCT High Court sitting in Gudu, Abuja was stalled on Thursday, October 20,
2016 as Dariye’s counsel, Nantok Joshua, asked for an adjournment to enable the
defence produce a ruling purportedly delivered by a Kaduna State High Court,
which it intended to tender and build on with its next witnesses.
The ruling, according to
Joshua, deals with the ecological funds, which is the crux of the case,
couldn’t be tendered because the Registrar of the Kaduna State High Court was
unavailable to provide it with a copy.
Justice Banjoko
expressed dismay with action of the defence, insisting that the public must be
told the truth of what is going on before her court in a trial that has dragged
on for close to a decade.
Apparently uncomfortable
with the way the defence is handling its case, the judge further said that,
“even if I am not in court, I should be asked why?”
She admonished counsels
to be accountable for their actions saying, “Judges, more often than not, are
being blamed for the incessant delays in cases.”
Aside that, Justice
Banjoko noted that, the purported ruling waiting to be collected from a court
of coordinate jurisdiction, was only persuasive and not binding on her court.
Counsel to EFCC, Rotimi
Jacobs, SAN, had earlier kicked against the defence request for a further
adjournment insisting that the case slated for hearing must go on.
The case has been
adjourned to Wednesday, October 26 2016, for continuation of hearing.
Dariye is being
prosecuted by the EFCC for allegedly siphoning Plateau State’s ecological funds
to the tune of N1.16billion.
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