Court dismisses Dasuki’s request to stop trial

An Abuja High Court, on Wednesday, declined to stop the ongoing trial of the detained former National Security Adviser, NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki, even as it okayed accelerated hearing of two separate money laundering charges against him.

The high court held that an application the former NSA filed, for an order halting further proceedings in the case against him, lacked merit and constituted an abuse of the judicial process.

The ex-NSA, through his lawyer, Mr. Ahmed Raji, SAN, urged the court to suspend proceedings in the two cases to compel the Federal Government to obey a judgment the Federal High Court in Abuja delivered on July 2, 2018, which ordered his unconditional release.

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The request was vehemently opposed by the lawyer to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC ), Mr. Jacobs, SAN, who queried the rationale behind Dasuki’s selection of lawyers he said were not favourably disposed to the government in power.

But trial Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu dismissed the application.
“This application is nothing but gross abuse of process and cannot be allowed to stand, it is hereby dismissed,” Justice Ashi held.

Dasuki is answering to a 22-count charge involving his alleged complicity in the illegal diversion of N19.4billion, as well as, another 32-count charge bordering on alleged diversion of N32billion from an account the Office of the NSA, operated with the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.

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