Posted on: 02:56 Fri, 22 Jan 2016



Justice Baba Yusuf of a Federal Capital
Territory High Court in Maitama, Abuja again on
Friday adjourned the trial of the immediate past
National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki
(retd), till February 4 for the hearing of the ex-
NSA’s application for stay of proceedings.

Dasuki is being prosecuted before the court
on19 counts of diversion of N32bn arms fund,
along with a former Director of Finance and
Administration in the Office of the NSA,
Shuaibu Salisu and a former Director of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Aminu
Baba-Kusa .

Aminu-Kausa ’s two firms – Acacia Holdings Ltd
and Reliance Referral Hospital Limited – are
also part of the accused.

It would be recalled that Dasuki had filed an
application for stay of proceedings on the
grounds that the prosecution was in contempt
of court by disobeying an order granting the ex-
NSA bail.

Dasuki was re-arrested by operatives of the
DSS On December 29, 2015 shortly after he was
released from prison upon fulfilling the bail
conditions granted him by Justice Yusuf on
December 18.

Dasuki’s lawyer, Mr. Joseph Daudu (SAN), on
Friday reiterated the essence of the application
which he said bordered on the integrity of the
court and the ability of the former NSA to
prepare adequately for his defence in the trial.

But the lead prosecuting counsel for the
Economic and Financial Crimes, Mr. Rotimi
Jacobs (SAN), had urged the court to direct
that the trial should begin.

He opposed the hearing of Dasuki’s application,
citing provisions of section 306 of the
Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, the
law guiding criminal proceedings, which prohibit
the court from entertaining such applications.

He also cited section 396 (1) to (3) of the ACJ
Act which stipulates that any application
challenging the competence of criminal charges
could only be considered along with the
substantive issues in the case and ruling on it
delivered along with the judgment on the entire
case.

But Justice Baba said he was inclined to
hearing the application and reserved ruling on
it.
Other defence lawyers, Mr. Solomon Umoh
(SAN), Chief Akin Olujinmi (SAN), and Olawale
Akoni (SAN), had also complained that they
were not served with either Dasuki’s application
or the prosecution’s counter-affidavit to it.

Some of them also maintained that the trial
could not commence as suggested by the
prosecution as they were just moments before
the proceedings served with an additional proof
of evidence.

But Jacobs said the additional proof of
evidence was only served upon request by one
of the defence lawyers, Akoni.

The judge in a short ruling however ordered that
all parties to the suit should be served with the
processes relating to the application and
adjourned hearing till February 4.