An emerging report by Daily Trust has it that a Federal High Court in Kano has ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to produce Abdulkareem Abdussalam Zaura better known as AA Zaura, the senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Kano central.
The presiding judge, Justice Mohammad Nasiru Yinusa who gave the order on Thursday, November 10, held that AA Zaura is brought in for arraignment in his fraud-related case by the commission.
The judge gave this order after the prosecution again informed the court that the defendant was absent in court as he was at the last two sittings.
AA Zaura was accused of defrauding a Kuwaiti national of $1.3million, and was billed for arraignment on Monday after the Court of Appeal quashed the earlier discharge and acquittal judgment and ordered his retrial.
Court’s verdict on Thursday
During the court sitting on Thursday, his counsel, Ibrahim Waru told the court that the matter was adjourned for the adoption of written addresses in respect of whether or not the defendant must be present in court before an application challenging the jurisdiction of the court can be entertained.
But responding, prosecution counsel, Abdulkareem Arogha told the court that the said application was not ripe for hearing because the defendant was not in court.
“We are making efforts to bring the defendant to court,” he said, while urging the court to decline to hear the application in the absence of the defendant.
Delivering a bench ruling, Justice Yinusa held that the position of the court was that the defendant should be produced and that where that has not been done, the court has the duty to insist that due process be followed.
