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From Abel Leonard, Lafia
The absence of prosecuting witnesses has stalled the trial of the Nassarawa-Eggon West candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2023 election and a former Special Adviser to governor Abdullahi Sule Yusuf Mada for alleged involvement in the vandalization of rail tracks and slippers.
Until his arrest, Daily Sun reports that Mada was a former Special Adviser (SA) to Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State and the APC Assembly candidate for Nasarawa Eggon West and was arraigned alongside 29 others at the Federal High Court sitting in Lafia in June 2021 for alleged vandalization of rail way tracks and slippers.
In her ruling, the trial judge, Justice Afolabi Nehizena who said that the criminal case involving the 30 accused persons would be struck out if the prosecuting counsel fails to present witnesses in the next adjoined date.
The Judge therefore adjoined the case to July 21 for hearing and urged the prosecutor to ensure that their witnesses are present in court.
Earlier, Obafemi Alabi prosecuting counsel representing the Police said the witnesses could not appear in court because they were among the police officers deployed to Ekiti to monitor the governorship election.
Obafemi however assured that the witnesses would be in the court unfailingly in the next adjourned date.
Speaking to journalists, Innocent Lagi, defending counsel regretted that the prosecuting counsel have not been able to produce witnesses after one year since the trial began in June 2021.
Lagi was however optimistic that his clients would be freed at the end of the case as all his client are not guilty of the alleged allegations against them.
