Justice Daniel Longji of the Plateau State High Court on Tuesday told the former Governor of Benue State, Jonah Jang, that he has a case to answer in an alleged case of misappropriation and diversion of state funds.
The case was brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
EFCC has been prosecuting Jang since March 2018 on an amended 17-count, alongside a cashier in the Office of the Secretary to the State Government (OSSG), Yusuf Pam, for alleged corruption and misappropriation of Plateau State funds to the tune of N6.32billion.
The trial judge while ruling on the matter on Tuesday, dismissed the ‘No Case’ submission. He agreed with the prosecution that the defendants have explanations to give before the court regarding the charges against them.
The case file will be now be returned to the state Chief Judge for reassignment since Justice Longji is proceeding on retirement which implies that the case will commence afresh.
In the proceedings, the EFCC had presented their witnesses and tendered documents as evidence, through its lead Counsel Rotimi Jacob SAN, and thereafter closed its case. However, Jang’s Counsel, led by Mike Ozekhome (SAN), filed a no submission case, saying that their client is not guilty because no case had been established against him to warrant his indictment by the court, thereby seeking the court to rule in their favour.
