TheCable

Andrew Yakubu, former group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has opposed a request by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), seeking to display evidence against him in court.

Yakubu was arraigned before Ahmed Mohammed on March 16, 2017, on a six-count charge bordering on money laundering and false declaration of assets.

When the counsel to the EFCC was about to cross-examine Yakubu, the first defence witness, on Wednesday, he applied to the court seeking permission to display the content of a memory card and compact disc that were marked as exhibits M, N, and N1.

But Ahmed Raji, counsel to Yakubu, opposed the application of the prosecution.

Yakubu’s lawyer argued that his client was not the maker of the documents that the prosecution wanted to play to the court.

He said the prosecution cannot demonstrate the documents through the first defence witness, as he should have done that through the sixth prosecution witness who is the maker of the documents and who also tendered them in court.

He added that allowing the application will violate the earlier directive of the court of appeal, which had sent the matter back to the federal high court for the defendant to state his own side of the story, by entering his defence in respect of counts three and four of the charge against him.

He also told the court that the defence had filed a no-case submission before the federal high court in the matter.

According to the ex-NNPC GMD’s counsel, an attempt to display the “dumped documents” will be changing the nature of the no-case submission.

Replying to the objections raised by the defence, the counsel to the EFCC asked the court to determine whether the said documents were tendered and marked as exhibits before the court.

He argued that by the provisions of the evidence act, the exhibits before the court could be used at any stage of the proceeding to establish or dispel a fact at any stage of the proceedings.

He further argued that the right to use exhibits before the court was not limited to the prosecution alone, as defence also enjoys same right.

Mohammed, the presiding judge, however, adjourned the matter till July 14 for ruling.