A Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed January 21 for ruling on a request by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to arraign and try in absentia former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello for alleged money laundering charge pending against him.
In the charge, the EFCC accused Bello, among others, of laundering N80,246,470,088.88 belonging to Kogi State.
Justice Emeka Nwite chose the date yesterday after lawyers to the commission and Bello concluded their arguments.
EFCC’s lawyer, Kemi Pinheiro (SAN), made the request, following Bello’s failure to attend court yesterday, despite a pending order of the court that he should submit to trial.
Pinheiro claimed that the defendant’s continued absence from court was an attempt to truncate the court’s efforts and escape justice.
The lawyer argued that Bello’s continued absence in court for his arraignment was malicious, stressing that the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, Section 276 (Subsection 1) allows a judge to enter a plea of not guilty on behalf of a defendant and proceed to trial.
He insisted that the defendant was aware of the charges against him and had constituted a team of lawyers to represent him.
According to him, the court had, in its proceedings, granted more than six adjournments in the matter to enable the defendant do the needful.
Pinheiro said the defendant’s continued nonappearance amounted to a deliberate refusal to enter a plea, describing the right to enter a plea in person as a constitutional right that could be waived by the defendant and should be deemed waived by the court.
The lawyer also argued that under jurisprudence operable in several countries, particularly the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (U.S.A), the question of arraignment and trial in absentia had long been overcome for over two centuries and created equality between civil and criminal jurisprudence.
But Bello’s counsel, Michael Adoyi, averred that the procedure for arraignment is provided for in the ACJA.
Adoyi explained that by Section 352, sub-sections 1 and 2 of ACJA, “the court, in a criminal trial, is immune and distinct from the prosecution so the application by the complainant is a dangerous invitation to the court to descend into the arena to aid the prosecution in the performance of its duty of presenting the defendant before the court for arraignment and trial”.
The lawyer insisted that civil proceedings are distinct from criminal proceedings.
According to him, whereas the former does not require the presence of a party, the latter mandates the physical presence of the defendant for trial.
In an earlier ruling, Justice Nwite found as meritorious an application filed by Adeola Adedipe (SAN) for the variation of the court order referring him and Abdulwahab Mohammed (SAN) to the Legal Privileges and Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) for their alleged roles in the Bello’s continued failure to appear in court.
The judge granted Adedipe’s prayer that his name be deleted from the earlier ruling.
In another ruling, Justice Nwite dismissed an application praying that the case be further adjourned.
The judge recalled that he had warned that no such applications would be tolerated in the case until the defendant presented himself for arraignment.