Whereabouts of Kano APC senatorial candidate unknown, EFCC tells court

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has declared that it does not know the whereabouts of the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial candidate for Kano Central, Abdulkareem Zaura.

The trial of Zaura for an alleged $1.3 million scam at the Federal High Court sitting in Kano failed to commence following the defendant’s absence.

The arraignment of the defendant was earlier stalled on October 14, 2022, when he refused to appear at the court leading to an adjournment till October 31.

When the trial came up yesterday, counsel to EFCC, Aisha Habib, told Justice Mohammad Yunusa that the commission did not know the defendant’s whereabouts.

The lawyer faulted the absence of Zaura, who she insisted must be docked before the court for arraignment, stressing that the defendant had disregarded the court.

In a counter-argument, counsel to the defendant, Ibrahim Waru, maintained that his client should not necessarily appear before the court on arraignment, since there was a pending application challenging the jurisdiction of the court to hear the trial.

He cited Section 266 (B) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015, which emphasises that a defendant shall appear before the court for trial, but where there is interlocutory application.

Disagreeing with Waru, the EFCC lawyer, who insisted that Zaura must be docked, told the court that the trial could only begin with the arraignment.

Although Justice Mohammad maintained that fresh application could only surface when the criminal trial had been established, however, asked the defence counsel to furnish the court with reasons Zaura would not be docked.

The case was adjourned till November 10, 2022, for both counsels to file written addresses on whether or not the defendant must appear before the court for arraignment.