Alleged fraud: Court adjourns ruling on Maina’s bail till Nov 25

Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Thursday adjourned till November 25 to rule on the bail application by former chairman of the defunct Police Pension Task Force, Dr Abdulrasheed Maina.

When the matter came up yesterday, the prosecution counsel, Mohammed Abubakar informed the court that the business of the day was to take a response to the submissions of the first and second defendants’ objections to the admissibility of a document the prosecution wanted to tender in evidence.

But, counsel to the second, defendant, Common Input Property and Investment Limited, Adeola Adedipe told the court that the business of the day was for the report from the Nigeria Correctional Centers (NCS), on the health status Maina, ruling on Maina’s bail application and to take reaction of the prosecution on the objections by the defendants on the admissibility of the document it sought to tender.

Adedipe told the court that he was not ready to go on with the trial unless the issues are addressed by the court, otherwise, the proceedings of the court will be set aside by the Court of Appeal.

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Maina’s counsel, Francis Orosanya in his submission, asked the court for an adjournment to enable Maina receive proper medical attention as his deteriorating health.

After conceding to the application for adjournment by the prosecution counsel, the court adjourned the matter till November 25, 2019 for ruling on the bail application and continuation of the trial from today.

Meanwhile, the court said it will not hesitate to order the police to walk out any counsel or anybody that attempt to frustrate the proceedings of the court.

The court also accused the NCS of compounding the issue before the court because it failed to produce a medical report on the health status of Maina, 15 days after the order to that effect was made by the court.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting Maina, alongside a firm, Common Input Property and Investment Ltd, allegedly linked with him on a 12-count criminal charge, bordering on fraud, abuse of public office and money laundering of about N2 billion.