The Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission is set to show to a Federal High Court in Abuja
a video clip of how its operatives recovered a cash sum of $1m from
the Abuja
home of a former Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh (retd.).
An operative
of the anti-graft agency, Mohammed Goji, while testifying as the 15th
prosecution witness in Badeh’s trial on Tuesday, narrated how the $1m cash was
recovered from a wardrobe in Badeh’s house at 6, Ogun River Street, Maitama,
Abuja.
The cash was
recovered in February 2016.
The EFCC
initially scheduled to play the video clip to the trial judge, Justice Okon
Abang, on Wednesday, but the plan was stalled as the defence blocked the
tendering of the Video Compact Disc as an exhibit.
Objecting to the
admissibility of the VCD, Badeh’s lawyer, Mr. Lasun Sanusi (SAN), said it would
amount to an ambush if the court admitted it as an exhibit since it was not
part of the proof of evidence served on the defence.
But Justice
Abang at some point interjected, querying if Sanusi’s objection could
constitute a valid ground for the court to refuse to admit a document as an
exhibit.
Prosecuting
counsel, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), agreed with the judge, contending that the
admissibility of an exhibit had nothing to do with whether or not it was
included in the proof of evidence.
But Jacobs
said, from experience, whenever such a situation arose, the best option was to
defer the tendering of such an exhibit till another time within which such a
document could be served on the opposing party.
The
prosecuting counsel suggested that he should be allowed to withdraw the VCD and
let Goji complete his evidence-in-chief.
He suggested
that after serving the VCD on the defence, he would re-tender it along with
some other documents through the Investigative Police Officer in the case.
Justice Abang,
in a ruling, agreed with Jacobs.
The judge
ordered the prosecution to serve the defence with a copy of the VCD and other
documents it intended to tender, but had yet to be served on the defence.
Ahead of
Wednesday’s proceedings, some officials of the EFCC had set up a projector and
a large screen at one side of the court for the playing of the video clip,
before it was stopped.
The court
adjourned until March 20 to 24 for the cross-examination of the witness and
further trial.
The EFCC is
prosecuting Badeh and a company, Iyalikam Nigeria Limited, on 10 counts of
money laundering involving an alleged fraudulent diversion of N3.9bn belonging
to Nigeria
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