The trial of former National Security Adviser (NSA), retired Col. Sambo Dasuki, has been adjourned till December 7, 2016.The trial was put off at the instance of prosecution and defence lawyers who agreed that the mood was not appropriate.
Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki, the 18th Sultan of Sokoto and father of the former NSA, was buried in Sokoto State Tuesday.Though Dasuki was not brought before the court for undisclosed reasons, his counsel, Ahmed Raji, told judiciary correspondents the former NSA was still mourning the death of his father.
He said though the matter was not officially mentioned before Justice Baba Yusuf, who was billed to conduct the trial, all lawyers involved felt the timing was not suitable, hence their agreement for the adjournment.
All other defendants – former Sokoto State Governor Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, former Minister of State for Finance Alhaji Bashir Yuguda, Director of Finance and Supply in the Office of the NSA Salisu Shuaibu and Alhaji Aminu Baba Kusa – were present in court.
Raji also expressed doubt over purported Federal Government offer granted Dasuki to travel to Sokoto for his father’s burial. “As his counsel, we are not aware of that offer. Our client has not told us anything of that nature. We would have expected that if such a gesture was going to be made to him, we, as his counsel, should have been involved, so that we can advise him properly. As I am speaking to you, I am hearing of this for the first time,” he said.
The counsel said there was no basis for the continued detention of Dasuki having been granted bail by three separate courts in Abuja, as well as an order by the ECOWAS court for his unconditional release.He urged the Federal Government to set an example by according respect to the rule of law.Meanwhile, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, yesterday eulogised the late Sultan Dasuki, saying he left his footprints on the sands of time.
The Speaker, who paid a condolence visit to the home of the departed ruler in Kaduna, was accompanied by House Chief Whip Alhassan Ado Doguwa, Deputy Leader Umar Buba Jibril, and other members.Responding on behalf of the family, the Magajin Garin Zazzau, Alhaji Ahmad Nuhu Bamalli, expressed gratitude to the Speaker for the visit, saying: “It is a very difficult time for us in the family. We appreciate you.”
He said: “In life, when someone of the late Sultan’s status departs, we thank God for longevity, long life and years well spent, even though we always feel the pain of physical separation.“We know that this is a very difficult moment for the immediate family, having lost their patriarch. When the greatest among us depart, no words of condolence or exultation are enough to celebrate them.“The only way we can celebrate them is remember those qualities they exhibited when they were alive, what they stood for, what they struggled for, issues of justice, equality, service to humanity and how they did their best for the progress of mankind.”