EL RUFAI TRIAL:The trial of former Minister of the FCT, Nasir El-Rufai, for abuse of public office and illegal conversion of land was again stalled following the absence of a prosecution witness.

EFCC BOSS: IBRAHIM LAMORDE

Mallam El Rufai

The trial of former Minister of the FCT, Nasir El-Rufai, for abuse of public office and illegal conversion of land was again stalled following the absence of a prosecution witness.

El-Rufai was charged by the EFCC alongside Altine Jibrin, former Director-General of the Abuja Geographical Information System (AGIS) and its former General Manager, Ismail Iro.

The EFCC is charging the trio with abuse of public office and illegal conversion of a land meant for the construction of transmitting/injection sub-stations of the PHCN at Plot 1201 of Asokoro.

He is also charged with allocating 10 plots of land of various sizes in Asokoro District to his family members, including his two wives, Hadiza and Hasiya.

In the charges, the former minister is accused of allocating 10 plots of land to his wives and associate in sheer disregard of the law guiding land allocation.

He offences are punishable under Section 26 of the ICPC Act 2000.

The EFCC claimed that El-rufai, Jibrin and Iro committed the offence between 2003 and 2007.

At the resumed hearing of the case on Wednesday, EFCC Counsel, Mr Abdulkarim Adeye, told the court that the key witness, Ins. Sunday Idowu, was not in court.

Adeye, who held brief for the lead counsel, Chief Adebayo Adelodun (SAN), regretted the absence of Idowu in the court due to ill health.

He told the court that he received a letter from the EFCC, which said that Idowu was ill and had been given an excuse from duty.

The EFCC counsel prayed the court to grant a short adjournment to enable Idowu, a key witness in the trial, to get better so that he can continue with his testimony.

It will be recalled that Idowu, who started testifying on March 21, told the court that investigations he carried out revealed that El-rufai did not declare all his assets to the Code of Conduct Bureau.

Idowu also said that the former minister (first accused) only declared one instead of the nine plots of land after
he left office in 2007.

He had told the court that investigations at the Corporate Affairs Commission also linked El-Rufai to the ownership of some companies, which benefited from the allocation of the said land.

The EFCC counsel had told the court that if granted an adjournment, the prosecution would make sure that it presented all witnesses by the next adjourned date.

In response, Counsel to the three accused persons, Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN), did not object the prayer of the
prosecution for an adjournment.

Agabi, however, urged the court to take judicial notice that since the trial started in October 2010, adjournments had been at the instance of the prosecution.

He said this was not the first time the case would be suffering at the instance of the prosecution.

In granting the adjournment, Justice Abubakar Umar of Abuja High Court ordered the EFCC to produce all its witnesses by Wednesday, May 23.

He said, ``if by May 23, your witness, Mr Idowu, is not in court for cross examination, you should be able to unfailingly present your other witnesses.'' (NAN)