Jolly
Nyame, a former governor of Taraba State, has been ordered by a Federal
Capital Territory, FCT High Court, Gudu, to begin his defence on March
8, 2017 after Justice Adebukola Banjoko, on February 14, 2017 dismissed
his application for a “no-case” submission.
Nyame,
who is standing trial for a 41-count charge of criminal
misappropriation of N1.64bn state funds, had on January 18, 2017 through
his counsel, Charles Edosomwan, SAN, urged the court to "hold that the
testimony of prosecution witnesses have been so damaged and can't be
relied on", and “the crucial elements are missing in this case".
At
the resumed sitting today, the trial judge, citing Sections 302, 303,
357 and 358 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 noted
that, it was in order for a defendant to apply to the court for a
“no-case” submission, but the “court shall have discretion whether
essential elements of the offence have been proven or not”.
Justice
Banjoko, further noted that a prima facie case implies a ground for
proceeding, “it doesn’t require proof beyond every reasonable doubt, as
is required to find a defendant guilty or not”, and, “whether the
prosecution has made some case requiring clarification from the
defendant no matter how slight”.
“In
relation to this court, having had a close look at the evidence and
exhibits, I hold that this case requires him to provide information and
give explanation with regards to evidence presented by the prosecution,
and so he is ordered to enter into his defence in the interest of
justice,” the trial judge held.
Wilson Uwujaren
Head Media & Publicity
14th February, 2017
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