A Minna high court on Thursday adjourned till December 3, December 2019, the continuation of hearing in the trial against Mu’azu Babangida, former governor of Niger state, Umar Nasko, his former chief of staff, Tanko Beji, former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of Niger.
Babangida, Nasko and Beji are being prosecuted for alleged embezzlement of N800 million ecological fund, N1 billion Niger state shares in North-South Power and N937 million government money used for campaign.
At the resumed hearing on Thursday, Mikail Abdullahi, the judge, adjourned the matter to allow the defence counsel to reply to an application filed by the court for the full trial.
The prosecuting counsel filed an application requesting the court to commence pre-trial proceeding into the matter but the prosecuting counsel challenged the application.
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The judge directed that the case management be conducted to acquaint the court with the number of witness that the Ayodele Adedeji, defence counsel to the first defendant, as well as the number of documents to be produce to ensure speedy trial of the case.
The judge said the relevant documents challenging the application ought to have been filed by the defence counsel.
Also counsel to the second and third defendants had challenged the jurisdiction of the court, saying it is jeopardising the speedy administration of justice.
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After all submissions by both counsels, Abdullahi adjourned the case till December 3, 2019 for the commencement of the pre-trial into the case.
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