Alleged Fraud: Prosecutor Says Memory Of Witness No Longer Reliable

The EFCC prosecutor in the fraud trial of Rasheed Ladoja, former governor of Oyo State, on Thursday, said he could no longer rely on the memory of a witness in the case.

Mr Oluwafemi Olabisi, the prosecutor, made the assertion before a Federal High Court in Lagos when the case came up for trial.

EFCC is prosecuting Ladoja and a former Commissioner for Finance in Oyo State, Waheed Akanbi, over alleged N4.7 billion fraud.

The accused were brought before Justice Mohammed Idris on Dec.14, 2016, and they had pleaded not guilty to the eight-count charges preferred against them, while the court had granted them bails.

Olabisi, who hurried into the courtroom 20 minutes into the proceedings, asked for the judge’s forgiveness for coming late to court, and then announced his appearance.

The EFCC prosecutor told the court that one of his two witnesses, Mrs Princess Babalola, was in “a terrible medical condition’’, saying “her memory cannot be relied on as a reliable prosecution witness’’.

Opposing his submission, Mr Bolaji Onilenla, counsel to the first accused (Ladoja), told the court that the prosecution sent him a copy of the letter asking for adjournment only on Wednesday.

Onilenla said that the prosecution was claiming ill-health of a witness, but failed to attach the medical report to the said letter.

“In the light of this situation, I hereby apply that the court should close the prosecution case; it appears that they are taking this court for a ride.” he said

In the same vain, Miss Alero Gbemuotor, counsel for the second accused, agreed with the submissions of Onilenla.

Justice Idris told the prosecution that he had initially commenced writing of a ruling against him, noting that since it had not been delivered, he would stop the ruling and enter the appearance of Olabisi.

The judge said that the prosecution have seven days to produce his remaining witness against a date in May he earlier requested for in his letter to the court.

Responding, Olabisi told the court that his witness would be on sabbatical leave and plans to travel out of the country, adding that he would not be available until May.

He then applied for 10 minutes stand down of the case to enable him to communicate same to the witness and get back to the court.

When the court resumed sitting after the stand down, Olabisi came back with the same application for adjournment.

The judge, citing the provisions in the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, adjourned the case until April 20 for continuation of trial.