Judge decries delay in ex-governor Suswam’s decade-long N3.1bn fraud trial

A Federal High Court judge in Abuja, Peter Lifu, on Monday, decried the slow pace of the N3.1 billion fraud trial of former Benue State governor, Gabriel Suswam.

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Mr Lifu’s worry followed the defence team’s request for a three-week adjournment.

“This case has been going on for 10 years. No matter what, a case should not go on for 10 years,” said Mr Lifu.

A statement from the prosecution agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), stated that Monday’s proceedings were meant for Mr Suswam and his co-defendant to open their defence.

But the hearing was cut short by the defence’s request for adjournment for a lawyer in their team to recover from illness and to afford the team adequate time to prepare for defence.

Mr Suswam, who served as governor of Benue State from 2007 to 2015, was first arraigned by the EFCC in November 2015. He was charged alongside his then Commissioner for Finance, Omadachi Okolobia.

The prosecution accused them of diverting N3.1 billion, part of the proceeds from the sale of Benue State’s shares held by the Benue Investment and Property Company Limited. The funds were allegedly moved through Elixir Securities Limited and Elixir Investment Partners Limited. While facing the charges, Mr Suswam has been elected to the Senate for one term of four years.

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The defendants were re-arraigned in November 2020. The case was later reassigned to Mr Lifu after two other judges had handled it.

The prosecution proceeded to call nine witnesses to prove its case.

But instead of opening their defence, the defendants opted to file a no-case submission calling for the dismissal of the charges on the grounds that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against them.

But on 23 July, Mr Lifu dismissed the defendants’ no-case submission, ruling that the prosecution had led credible evidence warranting their explanations. Ruling that the defendants had a case to answer, Mr Lifu ordered them to open their defence and adjourned till Monday.

Why trial stalled again on Monday

At Monday’s proceedings, Mr Suswam’s lawyer, Joseph Daudu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), asked for a three-week adjournment on the grounds that a lawyer in the defence team, Chinelo Ogbozor, was hospitalised.

Mr Daudu also told the court that an appeal had been filed against the ruling on the no-case submission. He urged the court to adjourn till the determination of the appeal. He also said a three-week adjournment would give his team more time to prepare for the defence.

However, prosecuting counsel, Oluwaleke Atolagbe, opposed the request, arguing that the defence had more than two months since after the ruling to prepare.

He further stressed that the case has been on for 10 years and “they have had more than 10 years to prepare.”

On the issue of pending appeal raised by the defence, Mr Atolagbe said the trial court could not wait for the Court of Appeal, stressing that the Federal High Court “is not bound to stay proceedings,” except where the appellate court gave a ruling.

The trial judge, in his remarks, lamented that the case had lingered for too long. He said it was difficult to locate the file and had to send staff to the appeal registry ahead of the proceedings on Monday. He said the file was found to be “scattered all over the place.”

He said the situation caused his late arrival in court on Monday. “We cannot go on like this, this case has been going on for 10 years,” he said.

He adjourned the matter till 10 October for the defendants to open their defence.

READ ALSO: Alleged N3.1bn Fraud: Ex-Benue governor has case to answer, court rules

How the case moved between Judges

Over the years, the case, which commenced in November 2015, has faced several setbacks. It has passed through three judges. It journeyed back and forth between the first two to handle the case – Ahmed Mohammed and Okon Abang. The Court of Appeal’s ruling delivered in February 2020 ordered that the case be returned to Mr Mohammed, the first judge to be assigned the matter. Both Messrs Abang and Mohammed have since been elevated to the Court of Appeal bench.

After Mr Mohammed was elevated to the Court of Appeal in 2023, the matter was reassigned to Mr Lifu.

In March 2024, the defendants were re-arraigned before Mr Lifu and, again, pleaded not guilty.