Court to rule on Emefiele’s co-defendant’s trial-within-trial May 4

The Lagos Special Offences Court, Ikeja, has fixed May 4 for ruling in a trial-within-trial involving Henry Omoile, co-defendant with the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele.

Omoile is challenging the voluntariness of two statements he made to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the ongoing trial of Emefiele for alleged abuse of office.

Emefiele is standing trial on a 19-count charge of alleged gratification, corrupt demands and abuse of office linked to large financial transactions.

Omoile, his associate, faces three counts relating to alleged unlawful acceptance of gifts while acting as an agent in transactions tied to the CBN.

The charges involve alleged dealings estimated at $4.5 billion and N2.8 billion, which prosecutors said reflected serious breaches of trust and procedure.

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On Friday, Justice Rahman Oshodi adjourned the case for ruling after parties adopted final written addresses in the trial-within-trial.

Earlier, Omoile’s counsel, Mr. Adeyinka Kotoye (SAN), urged the court to discountenance the prosecution’s submissions.

Kotoye argued that a major missing link was the absence of a video recording of the second defendant while making statements to the EFCC.

He contended that the process did not comply with Sections 9(3) and (4) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL).

He also cited Sections 17(1) and (2) of ACJA.

According to him, where voluntariness is disputed, video recording of interrogation is crucial.

Kotoye relied on Supreme Court authorities and argued that video evidence was the most reliable means of verifying due process compliance.