The arraignment of a former minister of petroleum, Dan Etete, as well as one Aliyu Abubakar and six others has been stalled.
This follows the inability of the prosecution to serve two out of the eight defendants in the suit.
Etete and the others were scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
The prosecutor, Bala Sanga, informed the court that two out of the eight defendants denied ownership of the companies listed in the charge sheet.
According to him, this is in spite of the documents from the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) indicating the defendants own the said companies.
READ ALSO: Court Orders Arrest Of Former Petroleum Minister, Dan Etete
Having informed the court of his challenges to effect service on the two defendants, Sanga applied for an adjournment to enable him reconfirm the true ownership of the companies from the CAC.
Counsel to Malabu Oil, Mr John Achimugu, did not oppose the application.
In her ruling, Justice Binta Nyako adjourned the matter until March 17 and 18 for the arraignment of the defendants.
The arraignment was stalled a month after an Abuja High Court in Gwagwalada ordered the arrest of the former minister over his alleged involvement in the Malabu Oil scam.
Justice Idris Kutigi had ordered the arrest of Etete along with Munamuna Seidougha, and Jospeph Amaran.
Sanga, in an ex-parte application, informed the court that the arrest of the former minister was key to unearthing the truth about the Malabu oil scam.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had accused Etete and two others of playing roles in the fraudulent allocation of the lucrative Oil Processing Licence 245 to Malabu Oil and Gas Limited in 1998.
It named Etete, Seidougha, and Amaran as being on the run in the 42 counts of the alleged fraudulent Malabu Oil transactions recently filed against a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, and six others.
