Alleged $9.7m Fraud: Court Declines EFCC’s Request to Play Video in Suit against ex-NNPC GMD

By Alex Enumah

Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court on Wednesday, rejected the request by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to play a video evidence in the ongoing trial of a former Group Managing Director (GMD), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr Andrew Yakubu.

Justice Mohammed turned down the anti-graft agency’s request on the grounds that Yakubu was not the maker of the exhibits and as such, he could not be cross examined based on those documents.

The EFCC had in 2017, arraigned the former GMD on a six-count criminal charge bordering on corruption, after it raided Yakubu’s Kaduna residence, where it said it recovered the sum of $9,772, 800 and £74,000 in a safe.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges and entered a no-case submission after the government closed its case.

However, Justice Mohammed in his ruling had struck out counts five and six and ordered Yakubu to enter his defence in the remaining four.

Yakubu accordingly appealed the judgment and was ordered to open his defence only on count three and four which bordered on failure to make full disclosure of assets and receiving cash without going through financial institution.

However, at the resumed hearing at the trial court, the EFCC, among other things, requested to play video documents which were tendered while taking the evidence of the sixth prosecution witness (PW6) on October 17, 2018, and admitted in evidence by the court in cross examining Yakubu, who was in the witness box as the first defence witness (DW1).

The court had marked the documents tendered as Exhibits “M,” “N” and “N1.”

While Exhibits “M” and “N” were compact discs, Exhibit “N1” was a memory card.

However, the counsel to the defendant, Ahmed Raji (SAN), opposed the EFCC’s application.

Raji had argued that Yakubu was not a maker of the exhibits which in the eyes of law were documents.

Opposing Raji’s submission, the commission had enjoined the court to look at the provisions of the Evidence Act as to whether a counsel in a trial has a right to make use of exhibits already before the court at any stage of proceedings in determining an issue, particularly in cross examination.

He submitted that an exhibit already before a court could be used to either establish a fact or dispel a fact at any stage of a proceeding.

Ruling on the application, Justice Mohammed disagreed with the EFCC and also deferred the agency’s fresh application to recall two prosecution witnesses (PWs) for a re-examination pending when Yakubu’s cross examination is completed.

The judge subsequently adjourned the case until July 29 for continuation of the cross examination of Yakubu.