The celebrated case of contract splitting brought against the immediate past director general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA); Me Temisan Omatseye is reaching a crescendo as a Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday granted the request of the prosecution to call its last witness.
Omatseye is standing trial on an amended 27-count charge bordering on the alleged offence.
The accused is being prosecuted by The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The celebrated case of contract splitting brought against the immediate past director general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA); Me Temisan Omatseye is reaching a crescendo as a Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday granted the request of the prosecution to call its last witness.
Omatseye is standing trial on an amended 27-count charge bordering on the alleged offence.
The accused is being prosecuted by The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
When the case was mentioned, Chief Godwin Obla (SAN), the prosecuting counsel, informed the court that he had concluded the examination of his third witness, Mr Aliyu A. Aliyu.
He urged the court to allow him to invite one more witness before closing his case.
Obla requested the court to sign a subpoena which would be served on the witness, so as to secure his attendance in court.
Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia, following the consent of both defence and prosecuting counsel, adjourned the case till Friday, June 20, to regularise the issue of subpoena.
The judge also fixed July 9 and July 10 as tentative dates for hearing.
Earlier in a re-examination, Obla had asked Aliyu whether his testimony before the court would have been different if exhibit PD 18 D, on which he had testified, had been arranged serially.
In response, the witness said even if the documents were arranged sequentially, he would still have maintained his testimony.
With the sole question, Obla discharged the third witness.
Omatseye was re-arraigned on Jan. 21, 2013 for alleged contract splitting and bid rigging, estimated at over N1.5 billion.
He had pleaded not guilty to the charge and was granted bail.
The offence is said to contravene the provisions of Section 14(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2004, and Section 58(4) (d) of the Public Procurement Act, 2007.
The prosecution opened its case on Feb. 4, 2013 by calling on its first witness, Mr Ibrahim Ahmed, an Investigating Police Officer with the EFCC.
On May 30, 2013, Obla called his second witness, Mr Mohammed Shehu, a former Acting Director of Procurement in NIMASA.
The third witness, Aliyu, is a staff of the Bureau of Public Procurement.
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