The adjournment followed the absence of one of the defendants in the trial, Mr. Salisu Shuaibu, a former Director of Finance and Account (DFA) in the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), who was said to have taken ill and hospitalised.
The information on the sickness of the defendant was conveyed to Justice Baba Yusuf by the prosecution counsel, Mr. Oluwaleke Atolagbe, who told the court that he had been served with the medical report of the defendant.
Atolagbe informed the court that the trial could not proceed in the absence of the defendant and therefore applied for a short adjournment pending the recovery of the defendant.
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The trial was subsequently adjourned till January 25, 2017, by the court.
There are two separate sets of charges relating to the alleged diversion of the arms fund before Justice Baba Yusuf.
Mr. Dasuki alongside Mr. Shuaibu; Aminu Kusa, a former General Manager, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation; Acacia Holdings Limited and Reliance Referral Hospital Limited are being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on a 19-count charge of money laundering and criminal breach of trust to the tune of N13.6 billion.
In the second case under the same judge, the trio are among others are facing a 22-count charge for alleged diversion of N32 billion under the same judge.