Dino Melaye: Court adjourns case indefinitely on health grounds

Justice Olasumbo Goodluck of FCT High Court, Maitama, on Thursday adjourned indefinitely the trial of the senator representing Kogi West, Dino Melaye, over alleged false information.

The lawmaker was dragged to court on two counts bordering on giving false information, which he denied committing.
The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, recalls that the judge, on Wednesday, adjourned until May 17, and ordered the defence counsel to take appropriate steps to explain the absence of the defendant in court.

Goodluck, in her ruling on Thursday on a motion for adjournment by Mr. Ricky Tarfa, SAN, Melaye’s counsel, held that the prosecution did not doubt the health problem of the senator.
“From the gamut of the entire facts placed before the court, the prosecution did not controvert the fact that the defendant was in the National Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit.’’
The judge, therefore, adjourned the case sine die (indefinitely) pending the recovery of the senator from his illness.

Earlier, Tarfa, in an application to justify the senator’s absence, informed the court that his client was still lying critically ill at the National Hospital.
He tendered a medical report, signed by one Dr. Olaniran, Director of Medical Services at the National Hospital, Abuja, which confirmed that the senator was being managed at the ICU.
Tarfa urged the judge to consider the ill-health of the lawmaker as a special circumstance that warranted his absence from trial.
He urged the court to adjourn the trial pending the time his client would recuperate from the sickness, and be able to stand before the court to answer the two counts against him.
Responding, the prosecuting counsel, Mr. Magaji Labaran, urged the court to discountenance the exhibits attached to the defendant’s affidavit, as they did not meet the requirements of the law.

He added that the elements in the medical reports did not indicate that the defendant cannot come to court to stand trial.