By Lukman Olabiyi
A former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) ,Joseph Daudu (SAN), has urged the Lagos State High Court,Ikeja, to reject attempt by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation( AGF), Prince Lateef Fagbemi to discontinue a multi-million dollar criminal trial of Trafigura Beheer BV and Trafigura PTE Limited.
Daudu, the lawyer for Nadabo Energy Limited, the nominal complainant in the matter, urged the trial judge, Justice Mojisola Dada, to set aside the Notice of Discontinuance on the ground that it was unconstitutional as the case was brought to court under Lagos state law and not federal law.
The senior lawyer argued that the notice of discontinuance brought by the office of the AGF through the office of the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation is an affront to the constitutional powers of the AG of Lagos state.
Other defendants in the case are: Yusuf Kwande, Mettle Energy and Gas, Rembrandt Limited, Osahon Asemota, and Jil Engineering and Oil Services Limited.
The three-count charge, marked as ID/7980c/2018, was brought under the Criminal Code Law of Lagos state, Cap. C17, 2003.
The Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU) accused the defendants of stealing Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) worth about $8,442,806.09 from Nadabo Energy Limited.
They pleaded not guilty to the charge.
During the trial, the prosecution team, led by Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), called 17 witnesses, and the trial court threw the defence’s no-case submission into the trash bin.
Trouble started immediately after Justice Dada threw out the defendants’ no-case submission and called on them to enter their defence.
Instead, through their counsel, Trafigura BV and Trafigura PTE Limited approached the AGF through a petition urging him to terminate the case.
The judge had since discharged the defendants after the notice of discontinuance was moved by the prosecution.
But Daudu (SAN), in the motion on notice,asked the court to strike out or dismiss the Notice of Takeover issued by the AG through the office of the DPP of the Federation for being ultra varies, null and void, same having violated Section 211 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.
He also prayed the court to set aside or strike out the Notice of Takeover as being shrouded in incompetence and fundamental defect, which was issued by the AGF through the office of the DPP of the Federation on February 29,24, to take over the prosecution of the case.”
The first defence counsel, Bode Olanipekun (SAN), opened his defence by filing an application seeking to dismiss the case, arguing that the defendants had already been tried in a similar case before Justice Sodeton Ogunsanya at the Lagos High Court,Ikeja.
In her ruling, Justice Dada held that the application lacked merit as there was no nexus between it and the subject matter before the trial court.
After Justice Dada issued several directives ordering the continuation of the trial, led counsel to the Trafigura companies, and after calling three defence witnesses, approached the office of the AGF via a petition to terminate the case.