Yahaya Bello: Court to rule on EFCC's request to represent exhibit to own witness
A Federal High Court in Abuja has scheduled a ruling for Friday on whether the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) may be allowed to present an exhibit to one
A Federal High Court in Abuja has scheduled a ruling for Friday on whether the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) may be allowed to present an exhibit to one of its witnesses in the ongoing trial of the ex-governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello.
Justice Emeka Nwite adjourned for ruling after lawyers for the prosecution and defense disagreed on the EFCC's request to be allowed to represent the exhibit to Abdullahi Jamilu, a prosecution witness in the case.
Lawyer to the prosecution, Kemi Pinheiro (SAN) had sought to represent a copy of the statement Jamilu made to the EFCC, which is in evidence before the court, to clear what he said was an ambiguity in the witness' testimony.
Jamilu, who was called as the 12th prosecution witness (PW-12), told the court that he is the owner of Kumfayakum Global Limited.
He claimed to have converted certain funds, deposited in his account by one Abba Adaudu, into United States dollars and handed them over to Adaudu at various times, either in his office or at the recipient's office in Abuja.
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When Pinheiro later asked him if he could recall delivering the funds to Adaudu at any other location other than their offices, Jamilu said he could only remember delivering the foreign currency at the offices.
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It was at that point that Pinheiro sought to represent the witness's statement (marked as Exhibit 46) to him for clarification, a request that defense lawyer Joseph Daudu (SAN) objected to.
Daudu said, "My Lord, I object. If learned counsel intends to contradict his witness, he must first apply to have him declared a hostile witness.
"The witness has clearly stated that the transactions took place only at his office and that of Abba Adaudu.
"Counsel cannot rely on this document to contradict or augment the witness’ oral evidence without following due procedure."
Responding, Pinheiro explained that he only wanted to show the witness the document to refresh his memory, noting that the transactions occurred in 2022.
The prosecuting lawyer referred the court to Section 239(1), (2) and (3) of the Evidence Act (formerly Section 218), which he argued, permits a witness to refresh his memory.
In further opposing the prosecution's position, Daudu argued that the cases cited by the prosecution's lawyer were not relevant to his objection.
"My contention is that my learned counsel is attempting to treat his witness as hostile by confronting him with a prior statement already tendered as an exhibit.
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"This amounts to a contradiction without first seeking leave of court to declare the witness hostile, contrary to Section 230 of the Evidence Act.
"I further rely on Ibe v. State (1997) LPELR-1389 (SC), which addresses the consequences of breaching this provision," Daudu submitted.
After listening to the arguments by both lawyers, Justice Nwite adjourned to April 24 for ruling.
While testifying earlier, Jamilu denied making any cash deposit at the Lokoja branch of Access Bank.
He said the name, Abdullahi Jemilu, or Jamilu Abdullahi, could have been used in the cash deposits, but denied making the deposits.
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For certain transactions on Oct 8, 2021, Oct. 11, 2021, and March 17, 2022, he said that one Abba Adaudu was the depositor and that the deposits were made at the Lokoja branch.
According to him, after receiving the funds from Abba Adaudu, he converted them to U.S dollars and handed them over to Abba Adaudu.
The witness' attention was drawn to Exhibit 37(1), statement of account of Kumfayakum Global Limited, specifically the transactions of Dec. 15 and Dec. 17, 2021.
He identified the nature of entries from Keyless Nature Limited as N100 million bank transfer on Dec. 15, 2021, and N400 million on Dec. 17, 2021.
The witness also told the court that Keyless Nature Limited is owned by Abba Adaudu.
He was also told to confirm the transactions of Feb. 18, 2022, an inflow from Ejadams Essence Limited into his account, which he did.
