An Abuja division of the Federal High Court has adjourned the criminal trial of Nanle Dariye, son of former Plateau State Governor, Joshua Dariye, till December 17.
The judge, Ijeoma Ojukwu, disclosed this following a plea by the counsel to Mr Dariye, Peter Erivwode, who said he needed more time to reply to the court processes on adoption of witnesses.
“I was served the adoption of addresses on Thursday, November 22 at about 3:43 p.m, Meanwhile on the last adjourned date of October 25, the prosecution counsel, George Adebola, promised to file within seven days to enable us to reply, if we have the need to do so. The address was dated November 14, filed November 19 and served on us November 22,” he explained.
After listening to Mr Erivwode, Mrs Ojukwu criticised the actions of the prosecution counsel.
“You had an ample time to serve the defence on October 25, you promised to serve them within seven days,” Mrs Ojukwu said.
Mr Dariye was arraigned alongside Apartment le Paradis, a hotel where he was a director.
The defendant sometime in 2013 allegedly failed to report a cash transaction of N1.5 billion which he received through the hotel’s account in one of the old generation banks.
The amount is above the threshold of the N10 million permissible by law, the prosecution says. Additionally, the hotel was also not registered as Designated Non-Financial Institution, (DNFI), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, prosecuting states.
The alleged offence is in contravention of Section 5(1) (a) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2011 as amended and punishable under Section 5 (b) of the same Act.
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