The Federal High Court, Abuja, will on Feb. 28 rule on the application of retired Air Commodore Umar Mohammed permission to travel abroad for medical treatment.
Justice John Tsoho fixed the date following an appeal from Mr Hassan Liman (SAN), Counsel to Mohammed, that he needed more time to provide the court with relevant documents to back his application.
Liman told the court that he came ready to move the application but was confronted with a counter affidavit by the prosecution “vehemently” opposing his application.
He said the reason that the prosecution gave was that the ailment for which Mohammed was seeking to travel abroad was treatable in Nigeria.
“In the light of this, we need to file a further affidavit because the defendant got a review of his health condition at the National Hospital, Abuja, but it is not before the court.
“We crave your indulgence for a short adjournment to enable us present all the necessary material in regards to our application before the court so that my lord can take a decision on the matter.”
The prosecuting counsel, Mr Shuaibu Labaran, said that ordinarily, the prosecution would not object to the application since granting such an application was at the discretion of the court.
“We only did it to guide the court to take some precautionary steps in granting such an application.”
He said he had no objection to the application for an adjournment to enable the defence produce the necessary documents in court.
Mohammed had on Feb. 14 approached the court with an application seeking permission to travel abroad for medical treatment.
He told the court that he was suffering from the consequences of a plane crash he was involved in while still in service as an officer.
He, however, added that the request to travel abroad was not a ploy to delay the trial.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mohammed, is a retired Air Force officer and a former member, presidential team investigating the arms deal in the country.
The Department of State Services (DSS) had in July 2016, arraigned him over allegations of money laundering, possession of fire arms and violation of Official Secret Act.
The subject matter of the charge was principally the sum of 1.3 million dollars about N400 million. (NAN)
WS/KOLE/OFN
