Kehinde Osasona
A Federal Capital Territory High Court has set up a three-member panel to resolve the logjam arising from the trial of Sambo Dasuki for alleged money laundering charges.
Dasuki is being tried alongside Aminu Kusa, Acacia Holdings Limited and Reliance Referral Hospital.
The three-member panel headed by Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuf is to proffer a way forward for the court in the dilemma being encountered by the court in the trial.
Dasuki, who had been in detention of the State Security Service (SSS) since December 2015 despite about six court orders that granted him bails, had written to the Federal High Court.
In the letter, he said he would no longer appear for trial in protest against violation of court orders by the federal government which put him on trial.
At the resumed trial on Friday, at FCT High Court, counsel to the federal government, Oluwaleke Atolagbe, informed Justice Baba-Yusuf that the matter was for the continuation of trial and that he was ready to proceed.
He, however, said a fresh motion on notice just filed by the defendant had been served on him and that he needed time to study the direction of the motion and then respond appropriately.
Atolagbe subsequently pleaded with the judge to grant him a short adjournment.
The counsel to Dasuki, Victor Okwudili, had admitted that a motion was served on the prosecution and that the motion ought to be decided one way or the other before the trial could continue.
He, however, did not object to the request for an adjournment by the prosecution.
Justice Baba-Yusuf in his ruling agreed that the issue must be resolved in the interest of justice to both parties.
He, therefore, put in place a three-member panel that would proffer solution for the way forward for the court.