The Former Governor of Enugu State, Chimaroke Nnamani, has urged a Federal High Court in Lagos to put his trial on hold, to enable him recover from an open heart surgery.
Mr Nnamani, who is standing trial for allegedly laundering about N5billion belonging to the state, told the court that he was unfit to go through the rigours of trial, because he had just undergone a Quadruple by-pass (open heart surgery), which had recently caused him chronic chest pains.
The former Governor was arraigned before the court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alongside seven others, on a 105 count charge of Conspiracy, Forgery and Money laundering.
The other accused persons are: Sunday Anyaogu, Rainbownet (Nig) Ltd, Hillgate (Nig) Ltd, Cosmos FM, Capital City Automobile (Nig) Ltd, Renaissance University Teaching Hospital and Mea Mater Elizabeth High School.
They had all pleaded not guilty to the charges.
At the resumed hearing of the protracted case on Tuesday, Counsel to Mr Nnamani, Oluyele Delano, asked the trial judge, Justice Mohammed Yunusa, for another adjournment, on the basis of the ill health of his client.
He argued that although the surgery was a relative success, his client has had to embark on a slow and tedious recovery process.
Mr Delano also informed the court that a recent medical analysis suggested that the accused’s chronic chest pain, might be as a result of his body’s non tolerance to the “pace maker” which had been installed in his heart.
The lawyer further submitted that it was important for his client to be in good health, so as to be able to vigorously defend the criminal allegations levelled against him by the EFCC. He insisted that a corpse cannot stand trial.
Counsel to the EFCC, Mr Kelvin Uzozie, has, however, asked the court to refuse the request for an adjournment. He argued that the only condition that could necessitate the adjournment was, if the accused person was not capable of understanding court proceedings because of his illness.
Mrs Uzozie urged Justice Yunusa to exercise his discretion judiciously in determining whether or not to grant the adjournment, as he reminded the court that the case had lingered since 2007.
In a short ruling, the judge held that ill health was an important issue in any criminal trial; especially where the organ affected was the heart.
The judge also noted that a physical assessment of the accused person showed that he was unfit to stand trial. He concluded that the law was not intended to cause more harm to an accused person.
Justice Yunusa has therefore adjourned the case to November 3 for trial, to afford the former governor ample time to fully recover from his surgery.
