N3.2bn Fraud: Court To Rule On Illegality Of Witness’ Testimony Against Uzor Kalu Today
Justice Idris adjourned the case after counsel to the former Governor, Mike Ozekhome (SAN) and that of his co-accused, Chief Solo Akuma (SAN) objected to the testimony of Ovenevoh on the ground that his statement was not part of the proof of evidence given to him by the prosecution.
Kalu, and a former Commissioner for Finance in the state, Udeh Jones Udeogu and Slok Nigeria Limited were arraigned before Justice Mohammed Idris on a 34 count charge of conspiracy, Fraud and money laundering.
They pleaded not guilty to the charge.
At the resumed hearing of the matter on Monday, the EFCC witness was about to begin his testimony when lawyer to the 2nd and 3rd defendants, Akuma drew the court’s attention to the fact that his extrajudicial statement was not served on him by the commission.
Akuma insisted that service of witness statement on the defence is a constitutional right and a facility that should be provided for an accused person as enshrined in Section 36(6)(b) of the Constitution.
The lawyer said, “Where a witness is listed in the proof of evidence and his statement is not front loaded, such a witness should not be allowed to testify.
“Section 379(1) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) listed the contents of proof of evidence to be the summary of the statements of the witnesses to be called by the prosecution.
“The witness is not a court’s witness but that of the prosecution and as such his statement should be made available to us”, he said.
Also speaking in the same vein, Kalu’s lawyer, Ozhekome maintained that it is very important for the prosecution to make the statement of the witness available not only to the defence but also to the court.
He argues, “We ought to know what the witness is going to tell the court and not to be caught by surprise.
“Section 36(1)of the Constitution emphasized the need for an accused person to be given fair hearing and for us to have fair hearing, there must be fair trial. Fair trial demands that the prosecution must front load all the statements of witnesses it intend to call to prove its case”
Ozhekome while aligning himself fully with the submissions of the lawyer to the 2nd and 3rd defendants, urged the court to hold that since the prosecution has not provided the statement, the witness cannot testify.
However, in his rely, the counsel to the EFCC, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) urged the court to discountenance the submissions of the two defence lawyers.
Jacobs submitted that the witness was in court by virtue of a court’s order summoning him to appear and as such the commission should not be concerned about providing his statement again.
He stressed, “It is in compliance with the order of the court that the witness is here. He is a court’s witness and not a prosecution witness.
“The role played by the witness was displayed on page 19 of the proof of evidence. This should qualify as his statement”
Ruling on the matter has been fixed for today.
In the charge, the former governor and others were accused of diverting about N3.2 billion from the Abia government’s treasury between 2001 and 2005.
In the further amended charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/56/07, the EFCC alleged that Kalu and accused persons had between August 7, 2001, and December 2005, while Kalu was the Governor of Abia State, used the said money to procure Slok Nigeria Limited, a company EFCC claimed to be solely belong to Kalu and his family.
The accused persons and one Emeka Abone, said to be at large, were also alleged to have between May 2002 and December 2005, conspired among themselves to launder fund illegally derived from the Treasury of Abia State government.
They were also alleged to have aggregated several millions of naira amounting to N3.2 billion, property of Abia State government, knowing that the said amount formed parts of funds stolen from the Treasury of Abia State government.
The accused persons were alleged to have use Manny Bank, Spring Bank Plc, the defunct Standard Trust Bank and FinLand Bank, now First City Monument Bank (FCMB) to carried out their criminal acts.
