GBENGA DANIEL

Gbenga Daniel fraud case adjourned till Feb 15.

The Ogun State High Court sitting in Abeokuta on Friday adjourned proceedings in the trial of former Governor Gbenga Daniel to Feb 15, 2012. This is to clarify issues concerning a broadcast of the last session of the court on an Economic and Financial Crimes Commission programme on TV, which the accused person claimed was inaccurate.
The court was supposed to hear the concluding reply, on the point of law by counsel to the accused person, Taiwo Osipitan, SAN to the prosecution’s arguments opposing the application of the accused challenging the competence of the amended charge and the jurisdiction of the court.
Daniel was first arraigned on Oct 12, 2011 on a 16-count for offences bordering on embezzlement and illegally appropriating properties belonging to Ogun State. He pleaded not guilty to the counts and was subsequently admitted to bail following an application to that effect.
However, the prosecution amended the charges against the accused person to 43 count of stealing, fraudulent conversion by trustee, failure to declare assets, as well as corruptly obtaining public property while in office as governor.
The amendment was accepted by the court. However, on Jan 19, 2012, when the accused person was supposed to take a fresh plea to the amended information, he brought an application through his counsel, challenging the information and the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the information.
Osipitan, had on Jan 19, in a motion supported by a 37-paragraph affidavit, challenged the locus standi of both the commission and the Attorney-General of the Federation to prosecute the former governor and asked the court to quash the charges against him. He argued that the court lacked jurisdiction to try him.