$2.1bn Arms Deal: Your Motion Is Dishonest, You Can’t Stop Your Trial Judge Tells Dasuki
Sambo Dasuki – Former National Security Adviser, NSA[/caption]
Justice Hussein Baba Yusuf on Monday accused former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki, of bringing a dishonest motion to stall his ongoing trial.
The matter came to a head when Dasuki’s counsel, a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Mr. Joseph Dauda SAN, tried to move a motion seeking consolidation of the criminal charges brought against him in two Abuja High Courts.
In the motion filed by his lead counsel, Daudu, Dasuki claimed that the charges in the two courts constituted abuse of courts because they had same facts and figure and that he would be prejudiced if the two courts try him simultaneously.
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This did not go down well with Justice Baba Yusuf, who became angry and challenged him on what his client would suffer should the two courts go ahead with the trial.
Rather than look at the merit of the motion, the judge launched into a tirade lambasting Daudu for employing delay tactics to shield Dasuki from trial and insisted that the tactics will not work in his own court.
‘If you think the mission of this new motion is to delay the trial, I can assure you that it has already failed. I know your antecedents in these type of cases; filing frivolous, baseless and unwarranted motions to frustrate the court and trial of your client.
“I know the next motion you will file will be to ask me to withdraw or disqualify myself from this case, I will not succumb to your old fashion of doing things. It will not work in my court. I have over-indulged you and I am ready to go ahead with this trial today. I cannot be coming here to waste my time, I have granted you enough respect, this application is a disrespect to me. I have known you for certain things, if you have a court where people will dance to your tune, go to that court. I am not ready to dance to your tune. You are here with a dishonest motive as far as this motion is concerned. The whole target is to frustrate the trial, but you will fail.”
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The matter became more tensed when counsel to the Federal Government, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs SAN said he “respects Daudu a lot as a senior colleague, a role model and former NBA President” and ended up describing Daudu’s action with the motion as very unfortunate.
Attempt by Daudu to complain of insult from Jacobs to the Judge was rebuffed when Justice Baba Yusuf said, “for your information, a junior counsel can advise a senior one and that is my position.”
The case was adjourned to June 15 for hearing of the motion.
“I have been accommodating all sort of nonsense, yet you are not ready to respect me. You are disgracing me as one who does not know what he is doing here.
“You are subjecting me and this court to public disgrace. When you come to court, people are watching and we must behave, that is my advice for you”.
At this point, a former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Akin Olujimi (SAN), cut-in and prayed the Judge to grant adjournment “for us to sort out ourselves”.
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“I have never seen your Lordship in this kind of situation. Please indulge adjournment to enable us sort out things”.
Justice Baba Yusuf grudgingly adjourned the matter till June 15 for hearing of the motion.
Dasuki had asked the Court to consolidate the two criminal charges bordering on alleged corruption and breach of trust brought against him by the Federal Government in the course of his official duties.
The ex-NSA, who had been granted bails in three different high courts where criminal charges were slammed on him, had been rearrested and kept in custody since 2015.
He told the court that he was not scared of trial on the alleged fund misappropriation, but insisted that the right thing in law must be done.
