The prosecution was unable to produce the minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed, on Monday as a witness in the trial of the Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Is’haq Kawu.
Mr Kawu is being tried by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for alleged abuse of office and money laundering.
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Kawu was slammed with a 12-count charge alongside the chairman of Pinnacle Communications Limited, Lucky Omoluwa, and the company’s chief operating officer, Dipo Onifade in the handling of N2.5 billion, part of the seed grant for the Digital Switch-Over (DSO) project of the Federal Government.
During resumption of proceedings on Monday, lead prosecuting lawyer, Ephraim Otti told the court that the two witnesses he had planned for the day were not available.
Mr Otti said one of the intended witnesses travelled to Dubai, while the other one said he could not make it.
Otti said the one that travelled to Dubai “is the subpoenaed bureau de change operator, while the other one, who said he could not make it to court today is the Honourable Minister of Information.”
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He then prayed the court for an adjournment to enable him produce the witnesses on the next adjourned date.
Justice Giwa-Ogunbanjo warned the prosecution against further delaying proceedings and be serious in his handling of the case.
The judge adjourned until December 3, 2019 for continuation of trial.
