JUDICIARY
N6.3bn Fraud: More Trouble For Former Plateau Governor As Court Gives Fresh Order

A Plateau State High Court sitting in Jos has again ordered a trial-within-trial in a case involving a former governor of the state, Jonah Jang.

Justice Christy Dabup gave the order at the resumed hearing of the case on Thursday.

Jang, who served as governor of the state between 2007 and 2015, is standing trial alongside a former cashier in the Office of the Secretary to the State Government over an alleged misappropriation of public fund amounting to over N6.3bn

Dabup’s order for a trial-within-trial was the third since the case brought before the court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission started in 2018.

During Thursday’s sitting, prosecution counsel, Rotimi Williams, SAN, had called a witness, Sunday Musa, to testify.

Musa, an investigator with the EFCC, told the court how Yusuf Pam withdrew cash running into millions of naira and handed over to the former governor.

He claimed that their investigation revealed that the money was part of the N2bn which the Central Bank of Nigeria gave to the state government as loan in 2015 for disbursement to medium and small scale enterprises but which was not done.

But when the EFCC counsel sought to tender a statement which the commission obtained from the second defendant, Pam, as exhibit through Musa, Pam’s counsel, S. Oyawole, raised an objection and argued that the said statement was obtained under duress from his client and therefore inadmissible in court.

Oyawole said, “The second defendant states categorically that he did not make this statement voluntarily. He told me he was detained before the statement was extracted from him. He was tortured and was even slapped and threatened with further detention if he does not cooperate.

“He did not make the statement in the presence of any legal practitioner, justice of peace or community leader. He also said there was no video or audio recording of the statement.

“By Section 29 Sub Section 2 A of the Evidence Act, torture in such a situation, the court will order a trial-within-trial and I so apply to determine the voluntariness of the statement so extracted from my client.”

After arguments from both parties, Justice Dabup agreed with the argument put up by counsel for the second defendant and ordered a trial-within-trial to determine whether the statement was voluntarily given.

The judge then adjourned the case till February 11, 2022