A prosecution witness, Alhaji Sani Dauda, told a Federal High Court Abuja, on Monday, that Senator Shehu Sani asked him to give N1 million each to four judges to ”help” his case.
Sani is currently standing trial on a two-count charge bordering on bribery and advanced fee fraud preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC).
At the resumed trial, the judge ordered that the matter be stood down for 15 minutes to allow the court to get an interpreter for two witnesses the prosecution had in court.
After the recess, Alhaji Sani Dauda was led in evidence by the prosecuting counsel Mr. Abba Mohammed through an interpreter.
The witness told the court that he was arrested by the police with his entire family and released on Dec. 15, 2019.
According to Dauda, after my release Sani visited to sympathize with me after which he called me that he wanted to see me.
When we met at my house in Maitama, he told me that I needed to give money to some judges to help my case.
“He told me that he spoke to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, (CJN) on my case.
”He told me to speak to the CJN but I told him I will also like to see the CJN but he said that the CJN will not want people visiting his house since security operatives including the Department of State Services, (DSS) is watching who goes in and out.
“He then made a call and I spoke to the person on the phone and the person told me that Sani spoke to him about my case and he has spoken to four judges that when my matter comes to them, they should inform him.
“Sani said that there are four judges that we should give N1 million each but I told him that I was already in this predicament and can’t give out money.
“He also told me that he was told that Abubakar also had a case at the EFCC and the prosecutor was asking for N1 million, a total of N5 million and I told him I didn’t have money today and he should come back the next day.”
“I then called a Bureau De Change Operator, Abubakar to bring the money to me.”
But when the witness was trying to explain how he raised the money, converting dollars to naira, the judge said that he was not satisfied with the interpreter.
The interpreter said at some point that he didn’t know how to interpret what the witness said, saying he had a hard time interpreting the figure the witness was calling.
The judge has since adjourned the matter until July 7. He had also ordered that another interpreter be provided at the next sitting.
