Farouk Lawan’s corruption trial adjourned till June 21

The trial of a former member of the House of Representatives, Farouk Lawan, has been adjourned till June 21 for continuation of hearing.

Mr. Lawan is accused by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, ICPC of collecting gratification from oil magnate Femi Otedola amounting to $500,000.

He is being tried at a high court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

The prosecution counsel, Adegboyega Awomolo, presented a member of the House of Representatives, Jagaban Jagaban to testify against Mr. Lawanon Wednesday.

Mr. Jagaban, a former Chairman, House Committee on Drug, Narcotics and Financial Crime told the court that he never collected money from the defendant as gratification.

Mr. Jagaban further said his job as the committee Chairman on Drugs, Narcotic and Financial Crime was to supervise the activities of EFCC and NDLEA, as well as prepare their budgets.

“We are empowered by the constitution to investigate matters relating to our committee when reported and refer to the Federal Government for further investigation”.

Also at Wednesday’s hearing, the defence counsel Mike Ozekhome, informed the court of his decision to recall a witness who had testified during a previous hearing because he (Ozekhome) was absent in court when the witness gave his evidence in chief.

“I was attending a case involving me and the EFCC, so I couldn’t make myself available,” said Mr. Ozekhome.

The request was refused by the presiding judge, Angela Otaluka.

Reacting to the decision of the court, Mr. Ozekhome threatened to appeal the decision as far as the Supreme Court to determine if any section of the law that the court relied upon was stronger than that which permitted the principle of fair hearing.