Money Laundering: Court Adjourns Adoke’s trial Till August 13

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday adjourned the trial of a former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, till August 13.

He is being tried alongside the Chairman of AA Oil, Aliyu Abubakar.

The duo are facing an amended 14 counts bordering on money laundering by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

They have both pleaded not guilty to the charges.

But before the EFCC’s prosecution witness could testify on Tuesday, counsel for the defendant, Olalekan Ojo, objected to it, according to The Cable.

He told the court that the charges filed by EFCC did not “comply with the mandatory provisions of Section 379 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) with regards to the necessity to include the list of witnesses among the proof of evidence and summary of the witness statement.”

Hence, the trial judge, Inyang Ekwo, having verified, faulted EFCC’s counsel, Bala Sanga, for not capturing the complete details of the charges as well as the identity of the witnesses.

As such, he ordered EFCC to do the right thing and return to court on the adjourned date.

“You should have concluded everything about your witnesses, evidence and all other materials before you file a charge.

“I don’t want the proceedings in my court to amount to nothing.

“I’ll give you 24 hours to serve the defendants with all the processes and particulars that they are entitled to under the law.

“Unfortunately, in criminal proceedings, I’m not allowed to penalise if not, I would have done so.”

“The case has been adjourned till August 13 for continuation”, he said.