On Thursday, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) prayed to Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie of the Federal High Court, FCT, in Apo, Abuja, to change the charges against former Minister of Power Olu Agunloye and force him to enter a plea.
The EFCC is putting Agunloye on trial for seven counts relating to government corruption and the $6 billion fraudulent award of the Mambilla Power Project contract.
Using Sections 216 and 217 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, Prosecution Counsel Abba Mohammed S(AN) called the court’s attention to the modified charge earlier on July 1, 2024, and urged the court to accept it and allow the defendant to enter a plea.
Adeola Adedipe (SAN), the defense attorney, objected to the plea, claiming that the court’s permission must be explicitly requested and acquired before the commission may change its charge, according to a statement released by the EFCC on Thursday.
In response, the court ordered the parties to provide the court with evidence to back up the argument that the EFCC had cited. In the ruling on Thursday, the judge cited the Court of Appeal’s Bovoa v. FRN & Anor (2017) decision, holding that the amendment was not meant to go too far and harm the defendant and that a court could allow a charge to be changed or a new charge to be framed at any point before a judgment was rendered.
The court’s final decision discountenances the arguments made by the defendant’s learned counsel, which leads me to believe that the application has a good chance of succeeding. The application is then granted as prayed on the face of the motion paper, and the defendant is ordered to enter his plea on the amended or modified charge.
In order to give the defendant time to enter his plea, Justice Onwuegbuzie postponed the case to February 3, 2025.
ALSO READ:
