A moment of drama occurred on Tuesday at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in the Maitama Judicial Division during the ongoing trial of former Kogi State governor, Yahaya Adoza Bello.
The session began with the presiding judge, Maryann Anenih, delivering judgment in a separate civil matter before the court proceeded to the criminal case involving the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Bello.
After the earlier judgment was concluded, the court called up the case and preparations were made for the continuation of proceedings. The prosecution was represented by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kemi Pinheiro, while legal representatives for the defendants were also present in court.
Counsel to the third defendant, Z. E. Abbas, was preparing to begin the cross-examination of the prosecution’s witness when the court informed the parties that it planned to rise for the day at about 2:30 p.m.
However, the court indicated that it might consider extending the sitting time by an additional 30 minutes if counsel could conclude the cross-examination within that period.
In response, the prosecuting counsel appealed to the court to extend the sitting time to allow the defence complete its cross-examination and enable the prosecution to call another witness on the next adjourned date.
Pinheiro explained that all parties had arrived at the court early in the morning, around 9:00 a.m., but the proceedings in the criminal trial were delayed because the court first delivered judgment in another case.
According to him, counsel and other parties had remained in the courtroom for several hours while the court carefully read the entire judgment before moving to the next matter.
While addressing the court, Pinheiro noted that the reading of the judgment had taken considerable time and expressed sympathy for the judge for the effort involved.
He also referenced the practice at the Supreme Court of Nigeria, where only selected sections of judgments are usually read during delivery.
According to him, the Supreme Court typically reads only the opening pages and the concluding portion of its judgments during delivery, a method he suggested helps to save time and preserve the energy of the court.
Following the exchanges between counsel and the court, the judge adjourned the matter to Wednesday and Thursday for the continuation of cross-examination and further hearing in the case.
The court also directed that the matter be listed as number two on the cause list for the next sitting day.
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