Court refuses Chidinma lawyer’s request to grill banker over Ataga’s account

A Lagos High Court sitting at the Tarawa Balewa Square (TBS) in Lagos has dismissed the objection raised by the counsel to Chidinma Ojukwu to question a bank employee over Usifo Ataga’s account.

Yetunde Adesanya, the judge, admitted Ataga’s Access Bank account statements as exhibits.

Chidinma is standing trial for the alleged murder of Ataga, the CEO of Super TV.

She is charged with murder, stealing, and forgery alongside her sister, Chioma Egbuchu, and one Adedapo Quadri.

On Tuesday, A. O. Oluwafemi, the prosecution counsel, told the court that the prosecution had a representative from Access Bank who was in court on the basis of the subpoena to tender the account document of the deceased.

She then called Toafeek Lawal, the representative of the bank, to the witness box to tender the statement and the certificate of identification.

After tendering the statement, Onwuka Egwu, the counsel to the first defendant, raised an objection to cross-examine the bank officer over the document he tendered.

According to him, Lawal is the account officer of the deceased as can be seen from the subpoena and certification attached to the account.

He, therefore, said that the officer from the bank was in a position to give evidence in respect of the account.

But Babatunde Busari, the counsel to the second defendant, and A. O. Ogunsanya, the one to the third defendant, did not raise any objection to the tendering of the account statements.

Adesanya, in a short ruling, said that Section 218 of the Evidence Act (EA) 2011 provides that a person whether a party or not in a case, can be summoned to produce a document without being summoned to give evidence.

She also said that Section 219 of the EA provided that a person summoned to produce a document does not become a witness by the mere fact that he produced it and cannot be cross-examined unless and until called as a witness.

“This officer from Access Bank has not been sworn on oath, therefore, cannot be cross-examined,” the judge said.

The judge, however, dismissed the first defendant’s application.

Similarly, Ademola Ayodeji, an officer from Guaranty Trust Bank, also tendered the bank statements of the late Ataga before the court.