Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday rebuked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for publishing false information on Senator Shehu Sani who is standing trial in court.
Sani was arraigned on January 21 following his arrest in December for allegedly collecting $25,000 in the name of the EFCC acting chairman, Ibrahim Magu.
The anti-graft agency then wrote on Twitter on Tuesday that the former lawmaker was being tried for alleged $10 million fraud.
Sani’s counsel, Abdul Ibrahim, brought the attention of the court to the publication.
“The story they put out there for the public is that he was charged for $10m which is not true,” he said.
The defence counsel tendered a printout copy of the publication before the court as evidence.
EFCC counsel, Abba Mohammed, said he was not aware of the publication and the news came to him as a shock.
Justice Ekwo immediately cautioned the prosecutor saying: “Anybody can do anything when they are allowed to do so.”
The judge further warned parties to observe and comment on happenings in court only.
Earlier, the EFCC presented its third and fourth witnesses in the trial.
The third prosecution witness, Remi Jones, said he had worked with Zenith Bank as a compliance officer for over four years and was requested on January 13 by the prosecution to present the bank details of a man named Ahmed Abubakar.
Mr Jones said some of the documents requested for were Abubakar’s account opening package and statement of account opening.
EFCC’s counsel tendered the retrieved documents before the court as exhibit.
The witness said that based on the account statement of Abubakar, on November 20, 2019, there was an inflow of N5 million from ASD Motors Nigeria Limited account domicile to Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB).
During cross-examination, defence counsel Abdul Ibrahim asked the witness if the defendant was the beneficiary.
Jones responded that he was not aware of who the beneficiary was but it was not Sani according to the account statement placed before him.
The fourth prosecution witness, Abubakar Ahmed, a Bureau de Change operator, said that on November 19, 2019, Mohammed Sani, son of Dauda Sani, informed him that his father needed him to do a transaction with him.
“On November 20, 2019, Dauda Sani called me that he wanted to change dollar equivalent to N5 million,” he said.
“Dauda Sani brought a GTB cheque to me in his worth $13,930. I gave my staff the cheque to go to the bank to do a transfer from GTB to my personal zenith bank account because the cheque was of GTB and I received the alert.”
The witness said he did not see the defendant at Sani’s house and had never met him in person but had seen him only in news.
Justice Ekwo adjourned until May 4, May 5 and May 6 for continuation of trial.
