Nigeria Content Online

An Abuja High
Court, yesterday told the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) to call all its witnesses in the case against former Director
General of the National Gallery of Arts, Joe Musa or he will close the
case.

Adekayode Adeniyi,
the presiding judge, told the EFCC on Thursday that if the commission
refuses to call all its witnesses by February 16, he will close the
prosecution.

Mr Adeniyi said
this while ruling on an oral motion by Oluwemimo Ogunde, counsel to Mr
Musa praying the court to close the case following the alleged attempts
by the anti-graft body to deliberately prolong the matter.

Presenting the
motion, Mr Ogunde submitted that Steve Odiase, counsel to EFCC sent him
a text at about 5 pm on Wednesday that he (Odiase) was sick.

“My Lord, this
again shows that the prosecution is not ready to go on with the case
but to frustrate my client who is serving an unending suspension over
an offence strange to him,” he said. “By the record of the court, the
last time the prosecution called witnesses was six months ago; all the
adjournment we had had were at the instance of the EFCC. This motion
would have called for the summary closure of this matter, but for the
benefit of justice, I shall be urging the court to give a deadline
within which the other prosecution witnesses will come to testify or
withdraw the case.” In his ruling, the Judge said the matter was
stepped down for today and tomorrow for the prosecution witnesses to
testify, but it appears the EFCC is actually frustrating the court and
the accused persons.

“This calculated
step by the prosecutor to further drag the matter is containing in the
letter addressed to the court by Mr Odiase, stating that he is sick,”
he said. “I thought the counsel has been to court several times with a
number of lawyers, so I can not fathom how his being sick should affect
our proceedings. I however, grudgingly for the benefit of justice allow
this excuse to stay by giving the prosecution February 16 as the day to
present the witnesses or risks the case being closed preparatory to
judgment.” Mr Musa along with four other former senior officers of the
agency, are standing trial for alleged conversion of N87 million of the
agency for personal use between August 1, 2008 and April 9, 2009.

At the last
sitting, the EFCC said its prosecuting counsel is afraid for his life
and the commission is no longer comfortable with both its lawyer and
witnesses appearing before that court .

Mr Odiase told the
trial judge that the EFCC instructed him to seek an immediate transfer
of the case-file to the Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory,
following threats by some undisclosed persons to kill him over the
matter.

Threat to lawyer

He came to court on
that day with two heavily armed mobile police escorts and read one of
the threat massages he said was sent to his phone the previous night.

“Last night they
sent me another one, and I promptly reported it to the police and the
director of operations in EFCC, Steven Otutoju. This was how they
killed our forensic expert in Kaduna recently, we no longer feel
protected in this court and therefore want the case-file transferred,”
he said.

The latest threat
message he read was : “You still have the honourable option of opting
out of Musa’s case now or accept the choice of preparing your funeral
oration yourself and or the possible extermination of your family. This
is the final warning!”.

But Mr Adeniyi
refused to hands-off of the trial as requested by the EFCC, maintaining
that there was no basis for the anti-graft agency to seek a withdrawal
of the case-file.

“I will not concede
to this request because there is no basis to seek the withdrawal of
this case, if you are being threatened by anybody, then report it to
the police or other relevant agencies,” Mr Adeniyi said. “Justice is a
3-way traffic. The accused persons were arraigned before this court on
July 7, 2009, and since then the case has suffered series of
adjournment at the instance of the prosecution.” Those on trial are the
former Director-General of the establishment, Joe Musa; Director of
Finance, Olusegun Ogunba; Director of Research & Education, Kweku
Tandoh and Deputy Director Administration of the Gallery, Oparagu
Elizabeth.