An FCT High Court, Maitama, on Monday granted leave to retired Rear Admiral Shehu Ahmadu, standing trial with retired Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin, in alleged Naval property scam to seek medical attention abroad. Jibrin was arraigned on Sept. 27, 2017 alongside three others.
They are Bala Mshelia, Shehu Ahmadu, both retired rear admirals, and Habour Bay International Ltd, docked for alleged criminal conspiracy.
The EFCC alleged that the former naval chief and the other defendants allegedly conspired and bought a house worth N600 million while in office.
The EFCC also alleged that the said property acquired from the account of Naval Engineering Service was never captured in the budget.
The EFCC further alleged that the documentation for transfer of ownership of the property was done such that a private company owned by the family of the first defendant ( Jubrin) became the buyer.
The offence, the EFCC said, was contrary to Section 26 (1) (b) and punishable under Section 22 (4) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offence Act 2000.
The judge, Justice Sadiq Umar, granted Ahmadu leave to seek for a follow-up medical attention after his counsel ‘s application.
Umar ruled that it was only the living that can stand for trail and not the dead.
“For this reason and the absence of any counter from other counsel this application succeeds.
“It is accordingly hereby ordered that the registrar of the court shall release the applicant’s international passport to enable him travel to the United States to attend to his medical needs.
”The applicant shall return before the next adjourned date, which is Nov. 30, to stand his trial and upon his return shall deposit his international passport with the registrar of the court,’’ he ruled.
Earlier, Mr Dafe Akpedeye (SAN), counsel to the third defendant applied for the leave of the court to release the defendant’s international passport to enable him travel for medical attention.
The prosecuting counsel, Mr Faruk Abdullah, did not oppose the application, rather he prayed the court to order the third defendant to return and attend his trial. NAN