Farouk Lawan’s corruption trial adjourned till June 21

Jagaban, a former Chairman, House Committee on Drug, Narcotics and Financial Crime, told the court that he never collected money from the defendant as gratifi cation. He further said his job as the committee chairman on Drugs, Narcotic and Financial Crime was to supervise the activities of EFCC and NDLEA, as well as prepare their budgets. “We are empowered by the constitution to investigate matters relating to our committee when reported and refer to the Federal Government for further investigation”.

Also during yesterday’s hearing, the defence counsel Mike Ozekhome, informed the court of his decision to recall a witness who had testifi ed during a previous hearing because he (Ozekhome) was absent in court when the witness gave his evidence in chief. “I was attending a case involving me and the EFCC, so I couldn’t make myself available,” he said. Th e request was rejected by the presiding judge, Angela Otaluka, but Ozekhome threatened to appeal the decision at the Supreme Court to determine if there is any section of the law that the court relied upon and stronger than that which permitted the principle of fair hearing.

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