Court reserves verdict on admissibility of evidence against Jang

Justice Daniel Longji of the Plateau State High Court yesterday reserved ruling on the admissibility or otherwise in court of a Zenith Bank statement in the trial of former Plateau State Governor Jonah David Jang.

The former governor is standing trial in a 12-count charge preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly misappropriating over N6.3 billion two months to the end of his tenure in 2015.

At the resumed hearing of the case in Jos, the state capital, EFCC’s lawyer Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) sought to tender a Zenith Bank statement before the court through its prosecution witness (PW), Mr Emmanuel Kapanjang.

But defence lawyer Mike Ozekhome (SAN) objected to the move.

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In his submission, the EFCC counsel urged the court to admit the bank statement as evidence.

The lawyer argued that the witness, a Senior Assistant Manager with Zenith Bank, was in a good position to testify on its content, having managed the account of the second accused person, Mr Yusuf Pam, a former Cashier in the Office of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) under Jang’s administration.

But Ozekhome, who cited several legal documents in his objection, questioned the whereabouts of the signatories to the bank statement.

He said: “My lord, although the document appears to be the original, there is no foundation for the prosecution counsel to seek to tender it through the witness, whose name is not on it, neither does he know the content. This is a direct assault on sections 83 and 84 of the Evidence Act. I, therefore, urge the court to reject the document.”

After taking arguments from both counsel, Justice Longji reserved ruling on the matter till today.