By Jude-Ken Ojinnaka
The trial of a former governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam has began afresh as he and his erstwhile Commissioner of Finance, Omadachi Okolobia, were re-arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before Justice Peter Lifu (JP) at the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.
Mr Suswam’s re-arraignment comes eight years after his first arraignment in November 2015 before the former trial judge Justice Ahmed Mohammed on an 11-count charge bordering on money laundering.
The two defendants who pleaded not guilty at their first arraignment maintained their ‘not guilty’ stance when they were re-arraigned on Thursday before Justice Lifu.
After taking their plea, Mr Suswam’s counsel, Adedayo Adedeji (SAN), and Mr Okolobia’s counsel, Paul Erokoro (SAN) , prayed the court to allow their clients continue to enjoy the previous bail conditions granted them by Justice Ahmed Mohammed.
However, the EFCC prosecutor, Oluwaleke Atolagbe, did not object to the defendants’ bail request but he disagreed with the defence counsel’s submission that the defendants had always attended proceedings in the matter.
His disagreement with the submission of defence counsel prompted the judge to ask defence counsel if sureties for their clients were still willing to stand for Suswam and Okolobia. They answered in the affirmative.
The judge then admitted the defendants to their earlier bail terms, and adjourned the case till April 29 for trial.
But while adjourning the case for trial Justice Lifu has stressed 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,” Justice Lifu cautioned.
The duo of Gabriel Suswam and Omadachi Okolobia were first arraigned before Justice Ahmed Mohammed in November 2015.
The anti-graft agency (EFCC) is trying ex-governor Suswam and Commissioner Okolobia over alleged money laundering and diversion of N3.1 billion from the proceeds of the sale of shares owned by the Benue government since 2015.
But somewhere into the trial, Justice Mohammed recused himself twice from the case before it was reassigned to another judge, Justice Okon Abang for hearing.
Giving reasons for recusing himself from the case, Justice Mohammed had made reference to a media report which accused him of having been compromised to give Mr Suswam a “soft landing”.
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 Justice Mohammed for trial.
Consequently, Justice Mohammed began the hearing of the case leading to the EFCC closing its prosecution last December.
While the two defendants were preparing to open their defence in the suit, Mohammed was elevated from the Federal High Court to the Court of Appeal in 2023.
With the elevation of Justice Mohammed the case was reassigned to Justice Lifu, where the duo of Suswam and Okolobia took a fresh plea on Thursday.
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 was governor of Benue State from 2007 to 2015 and was succeeded by Samuel Ortom.
