A federal high court in Abuja has adjourned the arraignment of Nasir el-Rufai, former Kaduna state governor, to April 23.
The DSS had filed a three-count charge against el-Rufai over
alleged unlawful interception of a telephone conversation, following comments
he made during a television interview.
The court had thereafter fixed February 25 for the
ex-minister’s arraignment.
At the court session on Wednesday, el-Rufai was absent.
Oluwole Aladedoyin, counsel to the prosecution, said the
former governor is still in the custody of the Independent Corrupt Practices
and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
“Unfortunately, the defendant is with the ICPC, and I do not
know how far the investigation with the ICPC has gone,” Aladedoyin said.
Aladedoyin prayed the court to grant a two-week adjournment
to enable them secure the defendant’s attendance in court after ICPC’s
investigation.
Although Oluwole Iyamu, counsel to el-Rufai, did not oppose
the application for arraignment, he sought to move an application seeking bail
for his client.
Citing Section 158 of the Administration of Criminal Justice
Act (ACJA), Iyamu said the bail can be heard and granted even before a
defendant is arraigned.
He said leaving the defendant in custody for another two
weeks before considering bail would amount to “oppressive behaviour” by the
prosecution.
The counsel said the DSS had the time to prepare for the
case considering that the charge was filed since February 16. He also said he
knew “for a fact” that the DSS handed over el-Rufai to the ICPC.
Responding, Aladedoyin rejected the submission that the
former governor was taken into custody by the security service.
“May I correct the impression that we took the defendant to
ICPC. We didn’t,” the prosecution counsel said.
“The defendant was initially detained by the EFCC. It is
from the EFCC he was taken to the ICPC. He has never been in DSS custody.”
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com