Justice C. L. Dabup of the Plateau State High Court, Jos, on Wednesday adjourned the fraud trial involving a former governor of the state, Jonah David Jang and a former cashier in the Office of the Secretary to the State Government (OSSG), Yusuf Pam, till November 4.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) arraigned Jang and Pam for alleged criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of Plateau State funds to the tune of N6.3 billion.
The duo were first arraigned in June 2018 on a 17-count charge of misappropriation of funds, criminal breach of trust and taking corrupt advantages.
The commission re-arraigned the defendants in February this year, following the re-assignment of the case to Justice Dabup by the state’s Chief Judge, Justice Yakubu Dakwak.
READ ALSO: EFCC re-arraigns Jang for alleged N6.3bn fraud
The former trial judge, Justice Daniel Longji, had on December 29, 2019, dismissed the defendants’ no-case-submission and ordered them to enter their defence on the matter.
At Wednesday’s sitting, the prosecuting counsel, O.D. Mese told the court that the lead counsel, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) and Jang’s lead counsel, Mike Ozekhome (SAN) had agreed on August 12 and 13 dates for the continuation of the trial since the Federal Government had declared Thursday as public holiday.
The trial was expected to continue on Thursday. But the declaration of that day as public holiday forced the parties in the matter to work on alternative dates.
The judge, however, chose November 4 and 5, for the continuation of the trial.
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