Jolly
Nyame, a former governor of Taraba State, has been ordered by a Federal Capital
Territory, FCT High Court, Gudu, to begin his defence on March 8, 2017 after
Justice Adebukola Banjoko, on February 14, 2017 dismissed his application for a
“no-case” submission.
Nyame, who
is standing trial for a 41-count charge of criminal misappropriation of N1.64bn
state funds, had on January 18, 2017 through his counsel, Charles Edosomwan,
SAN, urged the court to "hold that the testimony of prosecution witnesses
have been so damaged and can't be relied on", and “the crucial elements
are missing in this case".
At the
resumed sitting today, the trial judge, citing Sections 302, 303, 357 and 358 of
the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 noted that, it was in order for
a defendant to apply to the court for a “no-case” submission, but the “court
shall have discretion whether essential elements of the offence have been
proven or not”.
Justice
Banjoko, further noted that a prima
facie case implies a ground for proceeding, “it doesn’t require proof
beyond every reasonable doubt, as is required to find a defendant guilty or
not”, and, “whether the prosecution has made some case requiring clarification
from the defendant no matter how slight”.
“In
relation to this court, having had a close look at the evidence and exhibits, I
hold that this case requires him to provide information and give explanation
with regards to evidence presented by the prosecution, and so he is ordered to
enter into his defence in the interest of justice,” the trial judge held.
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