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Former Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Tuesday disagreed on the competency of a subpoenaed witness presented in his ongoing trial over alleged money laundering charges of N1.35 billion.
The disagreement occurred before Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, during the continuation of proceedings in the long-running case in which the EFCC is prosecuting Lamido together with his two sons, Aminu and Mustapha, as well as Aminu Wada Abubakar and two companies: Bamaina Holdings Ltd and Speeds International Ltd.
The anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, had called an investigator, Kayode Oyetunde, to testify as a subpoenaed witness following earlier legal maneuvers by the defense team led by Nigeria’s senior lawyer, Joe Agi.
The defendants, after their non-charge application was rejected, had demanded that the EFCC Chairman or any designated staff member be made to appear in court to testify in their defence.
At the resumption of the hearing, EFCC lawyer, Chile Okoroma (SAN), informed the court that Oyetunde was not part of the original investigation team but was only tasked to recover the documents requested under the subpoena.
After his appearance on the witness stand, the defense attorney objected to proceeding with his testimony, arguing that the witness had no direct knowledge of the investigation and could not assist the court in any meaningful way.
Agi argued that the EFCC should have presented a more relevant official directly involved in the investigation, insisting that the current witness could not provide credible evidence on the main allegations.
However, the prosecution opposed the request, arguing that the subpoenaed witness had complied with the court order by producing all the requested documents already submitted as evidence before the court.
Okoroma further argued that the EFCC, as a corporate body, could be represented by any of its staff members, adding that a subpoena is not absolute and should not be used to stall proceedings.
He urged the court to reject the defense’s request for postponement and proceed with the hearing.
The trial judge, Justice Ojukwu, refused to grant an adjournment but instead briefly suspended proceedings to allow the defense team to interface with the witness. He warned that granting unnecessary adjournments at that stage could jeopardize the progress of the trial.
When proceedings resumed, Oyetunde told the court that he was not part of the investigation team and had only been assigned to search and submit documents requested under the subpoena.
The defense later argued that the witness could not be relied upon, reiterating its demand that a more relevant EFCC official be called to testify.
The prosecution, however, insisted that the evidence before the court remained valid and that the defense’s objection was unfounded in law.
Justice Ojukwu, while responding to submissions, advised the defense to formally request the recall of any witnesses deemed necessary for further examination. He also noted that subpoena powers are generally invoked when a witness refuses to appear in court, not as a substitute for recalling previously examined witnesses.
The court subsequently admitted as exhibits the documents presented through the subpoenaed witness.
The matter was then postponed to June 4 for the continuation of the trial.
The case, which has attracted public attention, stems from allegations that Lamido and other defendants were involved in laundering approximately $1.35 billion during his tenure as governor of Jigawa State. The defendants, however, have always denied any wrongdoing.
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