THE Kaduna State High Court on Monday directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to produce former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, for the next hearing in his trial.
News Point Nigeria reports that Justice Darius Khobo gave the directive while adjourning proceedings until Tuesday after counsel to the defence and the prosecution agreed to the adjournment.
Read also: Court Rejects Hospital’s Bid To Stop Inquest Into Death Of Chimamanda Adichie’s Son
Speaking before the court, the ICPC lead counsel, Ayodeleji Adelukpe, SAN, explained that the defence had requested an adjournment to enable its lead counsel, Paul Erokoro, SAN, to attend the swearing-in ceremony for a new set of Senior Advocates of Nigeria at the Supreme Court.
Adelukpe told the court that Erokoro had sent him a WhatsApp message requesting that the proceedings scheduled for Monday and Tuesday be vacated. He added that the defence counsel subsequently placed a telephone call to explain the reason for the request.
Read also: Double Jeopardy: Ex-Power Minister Mamman Asks Court to Quash EFCC’s Nine-Count Charge
According to the ICPC counsel, he agreed to the adjournment for Monday out of respect for Erokoro and in recognition of the importance of the event at the Supreme Court. However, he proposed that the case should proceed on Tuesday.
He explained that he had suggested 10 a.m. for the continuation of proceedings, subject to the judge’s approval, but Erokoro requested that the sitting be fixed for noon.
Adelukpe, however, expressed surprise that El-Rufai was also absent from court, noting that the communication he received from the defence counsel did not indicate that the former governor would be unavailable for the proceedings.
The ICPC counsel further told the court that the information available to him was that El-Rufai would not attend because he wanted to review the results of his medical tests.
Following the submissions, the court adjourned the proceedings until Tuesday and directed the ICPC to produce the former governor at the next hearing.
