Justice Hamza Muazu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja, has dismissed the additional evidence presented by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in the ongoing procurement fraud trial of Godwin Emefiele.

In his ruling on a motion filed by Emefiele, the judge noted that the EFCC had initially introduced new evidence on February 12, 2024, involving testimony from former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, and one Bamayi Haruna Mairiga.

However, Justice Muazu stated that the EFCC’s actions violated Emefiele’s right to a fair trial, as the additional evidence was not presented to him during the investigation stage, as mandated by law.

The judge emphasized that the prosecution’s introduction of new evidence so late in the trial amounted to “trial by ambush” and was an attempt to “fish for evidence.” This, he said, was prejudicial to the defendant, especially given that the charge had been filed on August 14, 2023, and Emefiele had already pleaded not guilty by November 16, 2023.

Justice Muazu further expressed concern over the ongoing amendments to the charge, describing them as a violation of Emefiele’s right to a fair hearing.

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He ruled that the charge could not be dismissed on the grounds that the investigation was incomplete, noting that both the defense and prosecution had already addressed the case in court.

Despite declining to strike down the charge, the judge also rejected the request to remove the evidence of Mustapha and Mairiga from the court records, ruling that their testimonies did not violate Emefiele’s constitutional right to fair hearing.

The additional evidence, filed on October 15, 2024, aimed to introduce new witnesses and statements that were made well after the charges were initially filed in August 2023.

Emefiele’s legal team, led by Mathew Burkaa, a senior advocate, had argued that the new evidence should be excluded due to the late introduction of statements from the two witnesses.

Justice Muazu concluded the hearing by setting June 3, 2025, for the continuation of the trial.

Crediblenewsng.com