The trial of a former governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam, has recommenced at the Federal High Court in Abuja after an eight-year journey
Mr Suswam was re-arraigned on Thursday before Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja alongside the Commissioner of Finance under his administration, Omadachi Okolobia, on an 11-count charge bordering on money laundering.
Messrs Suswam and Okolobia pleaded not guilty to the charge when it was read to them.
Mr Suswam’s lawyer, Adedayo Adedeji, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and Mr Okolobia’s lawyer, Paul Erokoro, also a SAN, prayed the court to allow their clients to enjoy the previous bail conditions granted them by Ahmed Mohammed, the former judge, who was adjudicating in the case.
The prosecution lawyer, Oluwaleke Atolagbe, did not object to the defendants’ bail request.
But Mr Atolagbe disagreed with the defence lawyers’ submission that the defendants had always attended proceedings in the case.
Subsequently, the judge asked defence lawyers if sureties for their clients were still willing to stand for Messrs Suswam and Okolobia, which they answered in the affirmative.
The judge admitted the defendants to their earlier bail terms, and adjourned the suit until 29 April for trial.
‘I don’t want to be part of the case’s chequered history’
Messrs Suswam and Okolobia were first arraigned before Justice Ahmed Mohammed in November 2015.
Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency, EFCC, is trying Messrs Suswam and Oklobia over alleged money laundering bordering on the diversion of N3.1 billion from the proceeds of the sale of shares owned by the Benue government since 2015.
But Mr Mohammed recused himself twice from the case before it was reassigned to another judge, Okon Abang, for hearing.
Mr Mohammed had referenced a media report by Sahara Reporters which accused him of having been compromised to give Mr Suswam a “soft landing” as his reason to withdraw from the case.
Mr Suswam had challenged the jurisdiction of the court presided over by Mr Abang to handle the suit.
In a ruling in February 2020, the Court of Appeal in Abuja ordered a return of the case to Mr Mohammed for trial.
Consequently, Mr Mohammed began the hearing of the case leading to the EFCC closing its prosecution last December.
While the two defendants were preparing to commence their defence in the suit, Mr Mohammed was elevated from the Federal High Court to the Court of Appeal in 2023.
With Mr Mohammed’s elevation, the case was reassigned to Mr Lifu, where Messrs Suswam and Okolobia took a fresh plea on Thursday.
But Mr Lifu has warned lawyers that he would not be a part of the case’s “chequered history.”
“The case has had a chequered history and I do not want to be a part of it,” Mr Lifu said.
In one of the counts, Mr Okolobia was alleged to have accepted cash payments in the sums of N128 million, N100 million, N150 million and N200 million on different occasions from one Gera James, a non-financial institution, which were said to have exceeded the threshold authorised by law and contrary to the Money Laundering Act.
Mr Suswam governed Benue State from 2007 to 2015 and was succeeded by Samuel Ortom.
He was later elected a senator in 2019 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to represent Benue North-east Senatorial District.
But Mr Suswam lost his reelection bid to the parliament in 2023. He was defeated by Emmanuel Udende, a lawyer and member of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
