Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja adjourned the trial of a former governor of Jigawa state and a presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sule Lamido, from Thursday, November 22, till today Friday, November 23, 2018.
The adjournment, according to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), is to enable the prosecution avail the defence with all the necessary documents required for trial.
Lamido, who was arraigned alongside two of his sons – Aminu and Mustapha, allegedly defrauded Jigawa state to the tune of N1.35 billion. Also docked were Aminu Wada Abubakar and Lamido’s alleged companies, whose names were given as Bamaina Holdings Ltd and Speeds International Ltd.
The EFCC noted that in the course of the trial on Thursday, November 22, the first prosecution witness, Philip Adepoju, a banker, who was subpoenaed before the court, presented account opening package of Interior Woodwork Limited, a statement of account from July 2007, to December 2013, and certification of identification. These were all admitted in evidence.
“However, the statement of account for Interior Woodwork Limited of which the prosecution counsel, Chile Okoroma, intended to tender through the witness could not be admitted due to an objection raised by the defense. The defense, led by Kanu Agabi (SAN) objected to the admissibility of the document, stating that the documents were not front-loaded into evidence and even if it was admitted they will need time to study it,” the statement said.
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