3 weeks ago
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By Ikechukwu Nnochiri
ABUJA— The Federal High Court sitting successful Abuja, yesterday, declined to admit successful grounds a acceptable of exhibits the Federal Government sought to tender against a erstwhile National Security Adviser, NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd).
Dasuki, who served arsenic the NSA nether erstwhile President Goodluck Jonathan, is answering to an amended seven-count complaint bordering connected wealth laundering and his alleged possession of amerciable firearms.
The court, successful a ruling delivered by Justice Peter Lifu, refused the grounds connected the premise that the exhibits were rejected erstwhile they were antecedently tendered.
According to Justice Lifu, since the exhibits were rejected and marked arsenic such, they could nary longer beryllium readmitted successful the proceedings arsenic doing truthful would magnitude to judicial rascality.
More so, helium held that the Federal Government, by its request, sought to unit a proceedings tribunal to beryllium connected entreaty implicit its ain ruling.
He said: “I callback that connected July 10, 2025, I delivered a considered ruling, rejecting the aforesaid sets of exhibits owed to improper instauration for their admittance and deficiency of relevance to the charge. That ruling inactive subsist and I americium bound by it.
“Any effort to toed the paths of going against the aforesaid ruling volition decidedly magnitude to judicial rascality, pettiness. Common consciousness does not adjacent enactment granting this benignant of request. This tribunal rejects the invitation and the petition is hereby rejected.”
Federal Government had successful the complaint pending earlier Federal High Court successful Abuja, alleged that the erstwhile NSA was connected July 17, 2015, astatine his location situated astatine 13, John Khadiya Street, Asokoro, Abuja, recovered to beryllium successful possession of assorted scope of firearms without requisite license, an offence punishable nether conception 27 (1)(a) of the Firearms Act Cap F28 LFN 2004.
He was accused of retaining the sums of $40,000, N5millon and different $20,000 successful the aforesaid location and aforesaid date, contrary to conception 15 (2)(d) of Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2011.
Besides, Federal Government alleged that the suspect had connected July 16, 2015, astatine his residence astatine Sultan Abubakar Road and Sabon Birni Road, Sokoto State, retained different $150,000 and N37.6m being portion of proceedings of unlawful act, contrary to Section 15 (3) of the Money Laundering Act 2011.
It listed the alleged amerciable arms it recovered astatine Dasuki’s residence successful Abuja arsenic 5 Tavor Assault Rifles, 1 Macro Uzi with serial No 60244(Rifle), 20 magazines (Ammunition), 1 packet of MOD (Ministry of Defence) APG calibre gun, Luger No 033375 ( gun), tiny mag containing 16 rounds of ammunition, and bigger mag containing unrecorded rounds of ammunition.
FG had done its squad of lawyers led by Mr. Oladipupo Okpeseyi, SAN, sought support of the tribunal to tender what it described arsenic captious impervious of grounds successful the trial.
Okpeseyi, SAN, further urged the tribunal to determination its sitting to the office of the Department of State Services, DSS, successful Abuja, for the intent of inspecting immoderate of the evidence, among which included a conveyance helium said was recovered from the suspect erstwhile a hunt warrant was executed astatine his location successful 2015.
The prosecution counsel stressed that the said vehicle, which helium wants the tribunal to admit successful evidence, has been parked astatine the premises of the DSS for the past 10 years.
He told the tribunal that the acceptable of grounds sought to beryllium tendered against the defendant, were each recovered from Dasuki’s location and listed connected the hunt warrant arsenic items 18 to 28.
However, the exertion was vehemently opposed by Dasuki’s lawyer, Mr. A. A Usman, who drew the attraction of the proceedings justice to the information that the said impervious of grounds were earlier tendered but refused and marked arsenic rejected by the court.
Usman contended that since the exhibits had already been rejected by the proceedings court, they could not beryllium tendered again.
He maintained that the lone enactment unfastened to the prosecution was to situation the ruling astatine the Court of Appeal.
The defence lawyer work a information of the ruling wherever the tribunal based its determination for rejecting the grounds connected the crushed that it failed the trial of admissibilty.
He, therefore, prayed the tribunal to cull the caller bid to tender the exhibits again, insis...
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