EFCC PRESS RELEASE.
Wilson UwujarenA Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on Tuesday, June 17th, 2014 adjourned proceedings in the trial of a former Governor of Enugu State, Chimaroke Nnamani. Justice M.N. Yunusa, in granting the prayers of Counsel to the former Governor, Oluyele Delana, SAN, said that ill- health was an important issue normally considered in criminal matters.Earlier, Delana had informed the court that Nnamani was seriously sick. According to him, the former Governor had undergone “quadruple-bypass, an open heart surgery”. He also said that, “while there is relative success with regards to the heart surgery, he has to undergo slow recovery process”. “A dead man cannot be tried. I am making this application bearing in mind that justice has to be done against the allegation brought against the accused person”, he said.In his response, EFCC’s counsel, K.C Udozie, told the court that: “this matter started way back in 2007. It is on record that the accused person, either for health or other reasons, has cause to be absent in court or asked for adjournments. If we are to conduct a laboratory test on every counsel present here in court, it would be discovered that everyone here has one health challenge or the other”. He challenged Delana to provide a medical evidence to back up his submission.Delana responded that the court granted the accused person leave to travel overseas in order to carry out the surgery. He added that there are ample affidavits to that effect. Justice Yunusa, after listening to both counsel ruled that,he didn’t have the competence to determine the state of health of the accused person, and would not risk the possibility of him collapsing in court. He therefore adjourned the matter to November 3, 2014 for the continuation of trial.Nnamani is standing trial on charges of money laundering to the tune of N4.5billion while holding sway as Governor of Enugu State.
Head, Media & Publicity
17th June, 2014
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