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Court adjourns ex-Lagos Scholarship Board chief’s trial for alleged N127m fraud till October 8

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Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos, on Wednesday, adjourned hearing in the trial of former Executive Secretary of the state’s Scholarship Board, Stephen Oshinowo, till October 8.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) had in July last year arraigned Oshinowo on an amended eight-count charge of fraud.

The commission accused the defendant of criminally converting the Board’s N127 million to personal use.

However, the defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges.

At the previous proceedings, the prosecuting counsel, Abbas Muhammed, sought to tender the defendant’s confessional statements made to the EFCC.

But the defence counsel, Lawal Pedro (SAN), countered him, saying the statements were obtained under duress.

The defence counsel’s objection prompted the court to order a trial-within-trial which commenced on March 7 to test the voluntariness or otherwise of the statement made to the commission.

READ ALSO: ‘How reckless driver caused LASTMA officer’s death in Lagos,’ Witnesses tell court

At Wednesday’s hearing, Justice Taiwo overruled the objection and admitted the statements the defendant made to the EFCC on November 29, 2019; December 7, 2019; December 9, 2019 and December 23, 2019, as exhibits G, G1, G2 and G3.

He adjourned the matter till October 8 for the continuation of trial.

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