Judiciary
JUSTICE Ibrahim Maikaita-Bako, of Katsina High Court, on Tuesday fixed July 9, 2018, for ruling on the admissibility of a report on investigations carried out in the Katsina state local governments finances in 2015.
The prosecution had presented the report as evidence in the case against former Katsina State governor, Ibrahim Shema accused of misappropriating about N11 billion during his tenure from the state and local governments joint account.
During Tuesday’s sitting, a prosecution witness, Ibrahim Dabo who chaired the investigation committee had sought to present the document as evidence.
He had told the court that his committee discovered irregular payments and cases of misappropriation of funds from the joint account during its investigation.
‘’That Joint Account Committee never held a single meeting and there is no single minute of meeting, ’’ he averred.
However, the lead counsel to the defendants, Joseph Daudu, SAN, told the court that the testimony of the witness was faulty, just as the report he presented.
Daudu said that prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt and provide evidence that an offence was committed.
‘’The witness is not a clearing house of a court, I urged the court to reject it,’’ he said.
Also Mr Akinlolu Kehinde, counsel to Sani Makana, one of the defendants, said that the report Dabo sought to tender was incomplete.
‘’The document is incomplete because it contained 25 anecdotes and I have not found anyone in it,’’ he said, and also urged the court to reject it.
Lead counsel to the prosecution, Sam Ologunarisa, SAN, argued that though the document was not a report of a Commission of Inquiry, it is still admissible based on sections 1, 4 and 67 of the Evidence Act.
He therefore urged the court to overrule the objection of the defence.
June 12, 2018 @ 13:58 GMT |
BE
