The trial of Kenny Martins who is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for alleged ₦7.74bn Police Equipment Fund, PEF, fraud has been rescheduled till June 30, 2020.
Justice Modupe Adebiyi of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, had earlier scheduled Tuesday, April 28, 2020, for the trial.
But the April 28 date was not feasible in the light of the shutdown of courts by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad, following the lockdown in force in Abuja and many other parts of the country to curb the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.
The EFCC is prosecuting Martins, as the coordinator of the Police Equipment Fund, for allegedly conniving with three others to perpetrate the alleged fraud.
Justice Mohammed Talba, then of FCT High Court, Gudu, Abuja, now elevated to the Court of Appeal bench, had reportedly on November 24, 2009, discharged Martins and his co-defendants in his judgment on the no-case submission filed by them.
However, the EFCC appealed against the judgment.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja on June 28, 2012, upheld EFCC’s appeal. The court, in its lead judgment read by Justice Regina Nwodo, held that Justice Talba of the FCT High Court erred by discharging the defendants.
The court ordered the Chief Judge of the FCT High Court to reassign the case to another judge for re-trial.
Not satisfied, the defendants appealed to the Supreme Court. The apex court, in its judgment on March 23, 2018, affirmed the Court of Appeal’s verdict and ordered the re-trial of the case.
The EFCC subsequently amended and filed a three-count charge in Charge No: CR/267/18 at the FCT High Court. Three others charged along with Martins are Ibrahim Dumuje, Yero Gella and Nigerstalg Limited.
