Justice Yusuf Halilu of a Federal Capital Territory High Court on Tuesday reserved ruling in a trial-within-trial filed by a former Director-General of the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE), Benjamin Dikki.
Dikki is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alongside his company, Kebna Studio and Communications Limited on allegations of receipt of N1 billion bribe
He is dragged to court on a four-count charge bordering on receiving bribe and abuse of office.
He was alleged to have received N1billion bribe from Bestworth Insurance Brokers for his role in facilitating the approval of outstanding insurance premiums and claims of deceased and incapacitated staff of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).
EFCC stated that the offence was contrary to Section 17(1)(a) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000 and punishable under the same Act, between Jan. and Feb. 2015 when he was serving as BPE DG.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to the allegations and stated that the confessional statement EFCC presented was not voluntarily made.
The court therefore, ordered a trial within-trial to ascertain the voluntariness of the statement and adoption of addresses fixed for today.
Halilu after listening to the submissions of all the counsel in the matter , reserved ruling to a date that would be communicated to parties.
Earlier, Abdul Mohammed, SAN, Dikki ‘s counsel in his argument, told the court that section 17 of the Administration of criminal justice Act (ACJA) provides that suspect should give statement freely without force.
He said the defendant ‘s statement was taken in 2016 while ACJA was enacted in 2015 and there is no way the statement would be admitted because it was obtained by force.
According to him, everything about the manner in which the statement was obtained pointed to intimidation.
”The defendant said he was psychological tortured.
”The EFCC has CCTV covering the entire premises but failed to provide the clips on how the statement was taken to the court .”
He therefore urged the court to reject the statement and move ahead with the trial.
Sherif Mohammed, counsel for the 2nd defendant aligned with the learned Silk and prayed the court to declare the statement unreliable.
The prosecution counsel, Chris Mshellia asked the court to discountance the defendants ‘ arguments and admit the confessional statement.
According to him, what governance the admissibility of a confessional statement is the Evidence Act and not the ACJA.
He therefore urged the court to disregard the arguments of the defendants ‘s counsel and admit the statement in evidence.
Dikki had earlier on Nov. 14, 2023, told the court that he was informed on August 29, 2016 by an EFCC operative from Zuru that the commission had been looking for him and had gone to arrest his wife and son.
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