A Federal High Court, Abuja, on Tuesday, fixed March 31 for judgment in the 9.8 million dollars fraud charge filed against Andrew Yakubu, former Group Managing Director , Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation . Justice Ahmed Mohammed fixed the date after counsel to the EFCC, Farouk Abdullah, and the defence lawyer, Ahmed Raji, SAN, adopted their…
When the matter was called, Raji informed that the matter was adjourned for the adoption of the final written addresses and that he was ready for the business of the day.Adopting his application, Raji reminded that the defendant was before the court pursuant to the judgment of the Court of Appeal delivered in the matter on April 24, 2020, wherein it directed that the appellant should come and explain his own side of his story by entering into his defence with respect to count three and four.
The Court of Appeal also struck out counts five and six and ordered Yakubu to defend himself on counts three and four. “And upon being served the applicant’s final written address, the defendant filed a reply on point of law dated the 21st day of December 2021. He argued that the application titled: “Defendant’s Reply on Point of Law” was certainly not a reply on point of law “but an attempt to re-argue his case.”On Raji’s application asking the court to direct the Federal Government to release the sum of money in CBN’s custody, he said there was an interim order by a sister court presided over by Justice Zainab Abubakar, forfeiting the said sum to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
According to him, they are proper points of law raised, especially when the complainant did not refer to any portion constituting a repetition of arguments already canvass in the written address.