The Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday adjourned the arraignment of Sen. Andy Uba and his co-defendants in the alleged N400 million fraud case until November 6.
The matter, which was earlier scheduled for Uba and Benjamin Etu to enter their plea, could not proceed due to the absence of Justice Mohammed Umar, the trial judge, who was reportedly sitting in another division of the court.
The court subsequently rescheduled the arraignment for November 6.
On September 24, Justice Umar had threatened to issue a bench warrant for Uba, the former Senator representing Anambra South, if he failed to appear in court on October 28 for his trial. The threat followed an application by the I-G’s counsel, Aminu Abdullahi, under Section 394 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, citing Uba’s repeated absences.
Abdullahi said Uba’s consistent absence showed disrespect to the court and had stalled his trial. Since the charge was filed in 2024, Abdullahi noted, Uba had never appeared in court. The lawyer added that the same excuse of ill-health had been submitted by Uba’s lawyer, C.F. Odiniru, for his absence in July when the matter was previously scheduled. Odiniru, however, requested more time to allow his client to present himself in court.
The judge, who had adjourned the matter until October 28, said at the time: “I will give you the last opportunity.”
The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) had, on July 7, granted the I-G of Police permission to prosecute Uba and Etu. The prosecution amended a two-count charge against Uba and his co-defendant on March 5, which had originally been filed before former trial judge Justice Inyang Ekwo.
Initially, the police had named Uba and two others in the first charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/538/2024. Uba’s co-defendants in the two-count charge filed on October 10, 2024, by Abdulrashid Sidi at the Police Force Headquarters, Abuja, were Crystal Uba and Benjamin Etu as the 2nd and 3rd defendants, respectively. In the amended charge filed March 4, Uba and Etu are listed as 1st and 2nd defendants, while Crystal Uba’s name was dropped.
In count one, Uba, Etu, and Hajiya Fatima, currently at large, were alleged to have conspired in 2022 to commit the offence. They were accused of obtaining N400 million by false pretence, claiming to Mr. George Uboh that they could secure the appointment of the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) for any interested person able to pay the sum.
The charge reads in part: “A presentation which you know is not true and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 8 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud-Related Offences Act, 2006. The offence is also contrary to Section 1(2) and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”
Uboh, in a letter dated April 5, 2023, addressed to the I-G, stated that the petition was supported by documentary evidence and voice recordings. The prosecution intends to call six witnesses to testify against Uba and Etu.(NAN)
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