September 22, (THEWILL) – The trial of Abubakar Ali Peters and his company, Nadabo Energy Limited, slated to continue on Tuesday at Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, over an alleged N1.4bn oil fraud, could not hold due to the absence of the defence counsel.
The defendants are being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a 21-count charge bordering on obtaining money under false pretences, diversion of federal government funds, and forgery.
The EFCC chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, was in court to continue with his testimony as the second prosecution witness in the trial which began October 2015.
According to the EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, the defendant, who was present in court, informed the court that he had been unable to reach his lawyer on the phone.
He said, “My Lord, my lawyer is flying in from Kaduna to Lagos for the case and must have been airborne.”
Prosecuting counsel, S.K. Atteh, however, drew the attention of the court to the fact that the case had suffered several adjournments at the instance of the defence, and that “the chairman came all the way from Abuja, leaving his enormous responsibilities to continue with his examination-in-chief.”
The case was briefly stood down to allow time for the lawyer to be present in court. However, when the matter was called again, Peters informed the court he could still not reach his lawyer.
“I called the principal and he said he would get back to me. But he is yet to do so,” he added
Consequently, Justice Ogunsanya adjourned till September 22, 2021, for a continuation of the trial.
