Olisa Metuh, spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has moved applications for a stay of proceedings in his ongoing trial before Justice Okon Abang of the Abuja Federal High Court.
Metuh, through his lawyer, Emeka Etiaba, told the court at the resumption of trial that his colleague, Onyeachi Ikpeazu had written a letter asking the court for an adjournment.
The trial judge however stated that his court would not receive any such application, unless before the bar, insisting that he will not record the submission of the defence counsel that his application for an adjournment was received, because the application came earlier than necessary.
Etiaba replied saying that he was only aware that such an application should come ahead of court sittings to allow the court access the application and give its ruling in court, that it was in his place to make submissions and it was in the place of the court to rule.
An attempt by Justice Abang to persuade Sylvanus Tahir, prosecuting counsel to give a definite response failed as he insisted that his take on the applications was that he had the right to be served with each of them.
A copy of the application for disqualification was then served to the prosecution before the court and Tahir noted that he had received the application, but that he would need time to look at it.
He however added that any adjournment in Thursday’s sitting should not be attributed to the prosecution, since the defence was responsible for the fact that the said application was served late to the prosecution.
Tahir also told the court that the case had been going on “smoothly” since the trial commenced and likened the application for disqualification to an attempt by the defence to cause an air crash of a flight that had so far been smooth.
In his reply, Etiaba said, “Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution provides that the parties to a petition be allowed fair hearing and that the request for time to look at the application by the prosecutor was not out of place.”
Justice Abang however said the case would be adjourned till April 8, at the instance of the defence, stressing that they were supposed to have served the motion to the prosecution in good time.
He further said the three applications would be decided in the order of precedence. Beginning with the application for disqualifications, he said the court would determine the outcome of the first application before looking at the application for adjournment during its next sitting.
The court said, if the application subsist then he would hand over the case to another judge; but if it doesn’t, he will proceed with hearing on the application for adjournment by Ikpeazu, Metuh’s lead counsel.
After determining the first two applications, the trial judge said the court would determine the third application for stay of proceedings.
“If the application subsist, the court will set aside hearing on its trial till the determination of the case at the Court of Appeal; but if the application does not subsist the defence counsel will have to open its case for the last time,” the court ruled.
Metuh is standing trial on a seven-count charge bordering on illegal diversion of funds meant for the procurement of arms preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), where he was alleged to have received the sum of N400 million from the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki, who is being tried for laundering $2.1 billion.
