Court sets up three-member panel to review Dasuki’s trial

A Federal Capital Territory High Court has set up a three-member
panel to resolve the logjam arising from the trial of Sambo Dasuki
for alleged money laundering charges.

Mr Dasuki is being tried alongside Aminu Kusa, Acacia Holdings
Limited and Reliance Referral Hospital.

The three-member panel headed by Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuf is
to proffer a way forward for the court in the dilemma being
encountered by the court in the trial.

Mr Dasuki who had been in detention of the State Security
Service (SSS) since December 2015 despite about six court orders
that granted him bails, had written to the Federal High Court. In
the letter, he said he would no longer appear for trial in protest
against violation of court orders by the federal government which
put him on trial.

The letter was sent to the Federal High Court through his legal
team. In it, Mr Dasuki made it abundantly clear that the federal
government has lost both moral and legal right to continue to
prosecute him having deliberately violated subsisting and valid
court orders.

In the strongly worded letter, the former NSA claimed that the
federal government has proved beyond reasonable doubt it has no
respect for the rule of law.

At the resumed trial on Friday, at FCT High Court, counsel to
federal government, Oluwaleke Atolagbe, informed Justice Baba-Yusuf
that the matter was for the continuation of trial and that he was
ready to proceed. He, however, said that a fresh motion on notice
just filed by the defendant had been served on him and that he
needed time to study the direction of the motion and then respond
appropriately.

Mr Atolagbe subsequently pleaded with the judge to grant him a
short adjournment.

The counsel to Mr Dasuki, Victor Okwudili, had admitted that a
motion was served on the prosecution and that the motion ought to
be decided one way or the other before the trial could continue.
He, however, did not object to the request for an adjournment by
the prosecution.

Solomon Umoh, and a counsel to the second defendant, Aminu
Baba-Kusa, had faulted the claim of the federal government that the
former NSA deliberately refused to appear in court for trial.

The senior lawyer argued that that the blame for Mr Dasuki’s
absence in court, should appropriately shifted to the federal
government for using one hand in holding Mr Dasuki in its custody
illegally, and at the same time using the second hand beckoning on
the same Mr Dasuki to appear in court.

Mr Umoh therefore, agreed that the issue surrounding Mr Dasuki’s
decision not to be in court should first be resolved before the
trial could proceed.

Justice Baba-Yusuf in his ruling agreed that the issue must be
resolved in the interest of justice to both parties. He, therefore,
put in place a three-member panel that would proffer solution for
the way forward for the court.

Apart from Mr Baba-Yusuf who is presiding, others in the panel
are Valentine Ashi and Mary-Ann Anenih, both judges of the FCT High
Court.

Mr Baba-Yusuf, therefore, adjourned the matter till February 19,
2019.

During his tenure as the National Security Adviser in the
immediate past administration of Goodluck Jonathan, Mr Dasuki had
reinvigorated and facilitated the expansion of troops of
Multi-national Joint Taskforce (MNJTF) with neighbouring Benin,
Cameroon, Chad and Niger towards combating the dreaded Boko Haram
insurgency.

Mr Dasuki also facilitated collaboration with foreign technical
advisers towards ensuring the recovery of several major towns in
Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states from Boko Haram terrorists. Some of
the liberated towns, during his tenure included: Abadam, Askira,
Baga, Bama, Bara, Buni Yadi, Damboa, Dikwa, Gamboru-Ngala, Goniri,
Gujba, Gulag, Gulani, Gwoza, Hong, Kala Balge, Konduga, Kukawa,
Marte, Madagali, Michika, Monguno, Mubi, Vimtim among others.

However shortly after leaving office, the federal government
filed charges against him in different courts. He was granted bail
in line with the provisions of the law but has remained in
detention since December 2015. This prompted him to write the
Federal High Court in Abuja where he is being prosecuted for
charges of illegal possession of firearms and money laundering,
requesting that he be allowed to stop submitting himself for
trial.

He based his request on the federal government’s continued
refusal to comply with a series of court orders granting him bail.
He cited six court orders, including one by the Court of Justice of
the Economic Community of West African States, which had ordered
his release but were ignored by the federal government.