The arraignment of a business mogul, Abdulsalam Abdulkarim-Zaura, before a Kano Federal High Court over alleged 1.3 million dollars fraud was again stalled due to a change in defence counsel.
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) filed a charge of criminal conspiracy and obtaining money by false pretense to the tune of 1.3 million dollars against Abdulkarim-Zaura.
When the case came up for arraignment, the defence counsel,Mr Basil Hemba, holding brief for Ahmed Raji SAN, sought for an adjournment to enable him study the processes.
“My Lord we are not ready because we just took over the case. We have not been serve with the court processes and we need to prepare in the interest of Justice,” he said.
The Prosecution Counsel, Mrs Aisha Habib, objected to the application by the defence counsel for an adjournment.
“We are not objecting the change in counsel. This is a criminal matter which has suffered several adjournments,” she said.
The Judge, Justice Muhammad Nasir-Yunusa, held that when a client changes his lawyer, both the new and old counsel should have given the court notice pursuant to order 29 rule 1 of professional conduct for legal practice within 30 days.
He adjourned the matter until March 1, for arraignment.
On June 9, 2020 Abdulkarim-Zaura was discharged and acquitted by a Federal High Court over a nine-count charge of 1.3 million dollars fraud.
The Kano Court of Appeal Division on April 2022, ordered a fresh trial of the case earlier dismissed by a lower court.
