Adeola Adedipe, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and lawyer for former Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, has applied to withdrawn from the case.
Bello is facing a 19 counts bordering on alleged money laundering, breach of trust and misappropriation of funds to the tune of N80.2 billion brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
But Bello has refused to appear in court despite several adjournments.
During a sitting on Thursday, Adedipe informed the court that a letter has been sent to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, seeking to transfer the case to Kogi State.
Kemi Pinhero, EFCC counsel, urged the court to compel the defence lawyer to explain why the defendant was not in court despite an undertaking he made on June 13, promising to make an appearance.
He prayed the court to dismiss “the story of the defence lawyer as dilatory and a further attempt to treat this court with scorn”.
Pinhero also asked the court to punish the two senior lawyers representing the former governor, insisting that they have breached the rules of professional conduct.
“My lord, our application is that since one of the lawyers is present in court, he should be moved to the dock and dealt with summarily. That is what the law says,” the EFCC lawyer said.
“We urge the court to exercise disciplinary jurisdiction over the lawyers so as to preserve the integrity of the judiciary.
“If a chief justice of Nigeria can be docked before an inferior tribunal, who then is a SAN or a former governor in terms of status?
“Even a former president of the United States of America was docked. These senior lawyers have been helping the defendant to treat this court with scorn.
“For five consecutive sittings, the defendant refused to make himself available for his trial and his lawyers have continued to use all forms of chicanery to frustrate his arraignment.
“If this sort of conduct is not punished, then we will be sliding to a situation that will be worse than Animal Farm.
“The world is watching. Punishing these senior lawyers will send a very clear message.”
Responding, Adedipe told the court that he was not Bello’s lead counsel, adding that he also did not sign any undertaking to guarantee the presence of his client in court.
“My lord, the narration by the prosecution counsel is very untrue and it is accentuated by malice. I am not the lead counsel in this matter,” Adedipe said.
“What the learned prosecution counsel has tried to do was to pitch my person against this court.”
He submitted that the EFCC has failed to execute the warrant it obtained for the arrest of the defendant.
Adedipe said his team had earlier notified the court that it was not aware of the whereabouts of the former governor.
The defence counsel noted that given the direction the case had taken, he would like to withdraw his appearance for the defendant pursuant to Section 349(8) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015.
The EFCC lawyer submitted that it was too late for the defence lawyer to withdraw his appearance.
“My lord, he should be used to set an example that this is not a lottery game. His request to withdraw is only an afterthought and it should not be countenanced by this court,” he said.
“I urge your lordship to invite him to the dock immediately.”
Emeka Nwite, trial judge, is yet to rule on the matter.
