The trial of Azeez Fashola aka Naira Marley continued today, July 15, 2022, before Justice I. Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos with a prosecuting witness, Dein Whyte, an operative of the EFCC continuing his evidence.
This was even as the court dismissed the defendant’s objection to the forensic evidence earlier presented by the witness.
According to the EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, Fashola is standing trial on an 11-count charge bordering on credit card fraud brought against him by the EFCC.
At the last sitting, which was on the 9th of June 2022, the defence counsel, Olalekan Ojo (SAN), had objected to the witness’s opinion on the forensic evidence linking the defendant to credit card fraud.
He had argued that only the court could make pronouncements on the defendant’s culpability, not an investigator.
At the resumed trial today, Justice Oweibo delivered a short ruling in which he dismissed the defence’s objection.
The judge ruled: “It is the duty of the law enforcement agency or Police, charging a person to court to investigate if the defendant committed the crime or not. The investigator must be able to link the defendant to the commission of the crime. The prosecutor must have made up his mind as to the involvement of the defendant before bringing the case to court. I do not agree that the prosecution has declared the defendant guilty.”
