The Financial and Monetary Crimes Fee on Wednesday demanded to see the loss of life certificates of Grace Taiga, former director of authorized affairs on the Ministry of Petroleum Assets.
Taiga's lawyer, Daniel Alumun, had knowledgeable the Federal Capital Territory Excessive Court docket on November 4, 2023 that his shopper had died.
Taiga is standing trial earlier than Decide Olukayode Adeniyi on costs bordering on bribery within the controversial Fuel Provide Processing Settlement between Course of and Industrial Improvement and the Federal Authorities of Nigeria.
She was first charged on September 20, 2019, within the case marked FCT/HC/CR/504/19. Following additional amendments to the fees, Taiga was subsequently re-indicted twice, on October 3, 2020 and January 10, 2021.
Within the thirteen-count amended indictment the anti-graft company selected in opposition to her, Taiga was accused of receiving bribes by way of her offshore checking account in signing the controversial GPSA.
The EFCC alleged that it violated a number of legal guidelines by getting into into the settlement with out the approval of the Federal Govt Council and with out acquiring a certificates of no objection to the contract from the Bureau of Public Enterprise.
Nevertheless, she pleaded not responsible to the fees.
The EFCC concluded its case on February 27, 2023, after calling eight witnesses.
The court docket then adjourned the listening to till November 4, 2023, in order that the defendant might open her protection.
Nevertheless, when the case resumed on November 4, 2023, Taiga's lawyer, Alumun, advised the court docket that the suspect had died on August 1, 2023 at a hospital in Abuja.
Alumum then urged the choose to dismiss the case, a prayer that the EFCC expressed reservations about.
When the matter got here up on Wednesday, the EFCC Prosecutor, Mohammed Hussain, insisted that Tiaga's loss of life certificates must be produced earlier than the court docket.
“Your Honor, the assertion should be introduced to the court docket, as supplied by regulation, earlier than a call could be made,” the prosecutor stated.
However Taiga's counsel advised the court docket that the loss of life certificates was not but prepared and pleaded with the court docket to offer him time to provide it.
Justice Adeniyi subsequently adjourned the matter to March 6 for additional report on the loss of life certificates.
In October final 12 months, an arbitration court docket in London quashed an $11 billion damages award in opposition to Nigeria by P&ID over the failed gasoline processing plant contract.
Decide Robert Knowles discovered that the method by which P&ID gained the contract to construct a gasoline processing plant in Calabar, Cross River State in 2010 was fraudulent.
The choose, nonetheless, rejected the accusation that Nigerian legal professionals have been working in opposition to the nation's pursuits by supporting P&ID.
“Regardless of Nigeria's allegations, I’ve not discovered that Nigerian legal professionals within the arbitration are corrupt. Nevertheless, the case has proven examples the place authorized representatives did not do their jobs correctly, the place specialists did not do their jobs, and the place politicians and officers failed to make sure that Nigeria as a state participated correctly within the arbitration “, stated the choose. Decide stated.
Following the choice of the London court docket, the Federal Authorities has withdrawn legal costs in opposition to a former Lawyer Basic of Lagos State, Supo Shasore (SAN), who was concerned within the case.
