Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, on Wednesday told a Federal High Court in Lagos that he was ill and unable to be in court for the day’s proceedings.
Mr Fani-Kayode was represented in court by his lawyer, Norrison Quakers (SAN).
He has been unusually quiet on social media since his last post on January 28.
Before then, the 57-year-old regularly made graphic anti-Buhari, anti-Muslim and anti-Fulani posts on Twitter and Facebook.
Fani-Kayode, who was the Director of Publicity of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s 2015 Presidential Campaign Organisation, is facing a N4.6 billion fraud charge at the court.
He is charged alongside a former Minister of State for Finance, Senator Nenadi Usman; a former National Chairman of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), Yusuf Danjuma, and a company, Jointrust Dimensions Nigeria Ltd.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) preferred a 17-count charge of laundering about N4.6 billion against the accused.
They have each pleaded not guilty.
Usman and Danjuma were in court on Wednesday.
“I was going to inform My Lord that the second defendant is indisposed. I got a call from his wife who said he was complaining of heart-related pain.” Mr Quakers said.
He, however, promised to furnish the court with a medical report to back Fani-Kayode’s claim of ill health and urged the court to grant an adjournment in his favour.
The request for adjournment was not opposed by the prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo.
He, however, urged the court to observe the provision of Section 396(4) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, which stipulates that no party, in a criminal case, could have more than five adjournments.
Mr Oyedepo noted that already, the case had been adjourned twice at the instance of the accused.
After listening to counsel, Justice Mohammed Aikawa adjourned the case until February 28, March 1 and March 2, for continuation of trial.
