Absence of Prosecution Witness Stalls Trial of Ex-Interior Minister, Moro

The absence of the 10th prosecution witness Wednesday stalled
the trial of a former Minister of Interior Abba Moro before Justice
Nnamdi Dimgba of the Abuja division of the Federal High Court.

Moro is being tried alongside one-time permanent secretary in
the ministry, Anastasia Daniel-Nwobia; a deputy director in the
ministry, F. O Alayebami; one Mahmood Ahmadu (at large); and Drexel
Tech Nigeria Limited, a firm that was given the recruitment job in
the ill-fated Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) recruitment
exercise in 2014.

The defendants are, in the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/42/2016,
accused of defrauding 675, 675 graduate applicants of about
N675,675,000 having been made to pay N1,000 each as processing fees
for 5,000 job openings.

They are equally accused of breaching the Public Procurement
Act, No. 65 of 2007 in the award of the contract for the
organisation of the recruitment test to Drexel Tech Nigeria
Ltd.

At the resumed trial Wednesday, the prosecution counsel, Mrs
Elizabeth Alabi, said though the prosecution was prepared for the
trial, it could however not proceed owing to the absence in court
of the witness scheduled for the day’s proceedings.

The witness, Isah Joshua (an operative of the EFCC), according
to Alabi, was not in court due to the death of his father two days
(Tuesday) ago.

“My Lord, the matter is for the continuation of hearing.
However, our prepared witness, Isah Joshua, just called that his
father died around 8pm yesterday (Tuesday)”, she told the court at
the resumed trial Wedneday.

Alabi, who prayed the court for a short adjournment in the
circumstance however hinted that the prosecution would soon be
closing its case in the matter as it has just two more witnesses to
call.

“So far, we have called nine witnesses. This witness was to be
our 10th witness. We just have two more to go. He is an
investigative officer. He is coming to tender the statement of the
defendants,” she said.

The court also could not hear a motion by Mrs. Daniel-Nwobia for
the release of her international passport to enable her travel to
the United Kingdom on medical grounds.

Mrs. Alabi said she was not aware of the motion when Mrs.
Daniel-Nwobia’s lawyer, James Odiba, informed the court about the
motion and his willingness to move it.

However, Justice Dimgba, who noted that the motion was not
properly served on the EFCC, stated that the motion was served on
the commission’s Asset Recovery Management Directorate, instead of
the Legal Department.

On his part, A. T. Kehinde (SAN), counsel to Moro, said he was
served with the motion, but noted that the appropriate office to
serve the prosecution should be at its Legal Department.

He suggested that since a lawyer was in court for the
prosecution, the motion should be served on the lawyer and a date
taken for its hearing.

Other lawyers in the case agreed with the suggestion following
which the judge adjourned to December 4 for continuation of
trial.

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