TheCable

Othman Musa, a judge of the federal capital territory (FCT) high court, says he is returning the case file of Mohammed Adoke, former attorney-general of the federation (AGF), to the chief judge of the court.

The judge said this when the court resumed session on Tuesday, which was scheduled for the hearing of the bail application of the former AGF.

When the case was called, Benson Igbanoi, counsel who represented Adoke, said he would not be able to move the bail application because the prosecution just served him with its preliminary objection.

“This morning, we were served with a counter affidavit to our motion filed on December 23,” he said.

“By reason of the facts raised in the counter affidavit which call for further affidavits and also a need for reply on point of law, we are therefore constrained to ask for a short adjournment to enable us to respond accordingly.”

Responding, Bala Sanga, who represented the prosecution, reminded the court that there is an existing order permitting the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to detain Adoke for 14 days.

He said the order, which was granted on December 20, would expire on January 2, 2020.

Musa, who is a vacation judge, said he would not be available to hear the application when the order expires.

He then said he would return the case file to the chief judge for further action.

The former AGF was arrested by Interpol in Dubai on the morning of November 11 when he went for his medicals. Though he voluntarily returned to Nigeria.

Upon arrival in the country on December 19, he was handed over to the EFCC at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

The anti-graft agency had obtained leave of the court to detain Adoke for 14 days pending the conclusion of its investigation.

Adoke is standing trial on charges bordering on alleged abuse of office and money laundering in respect to the granting of the Oil Prospecting License (OPL) 245 to Shell and ENI.