Olasupo Shasore, a former attorney general and commissioner for justice in Lagos State, is currently being tried in Special Offenses Court in Ikeja, Lagos. The trial has been postponed till April 4, 2023 by Justice Mojisola Dada (SAN).
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting Shasore on two counts that have to do with bribery of public officials.
Shasore was charged by the EFCC on Friday, October 21, 2022, with violating Section 9(1)(a) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000 and was sentenced as a result.
One of the counts reads: “That you, Olasupo Shasore, SAN, corruptly gave the sum of USD100,000.00 (One Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) to one Mrs. Olufolakemi Adelore (then Director, Legal, Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources) on or about the 18th day of November 2014 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, in exchange for her participation in the arbitration proceedings brought by Process and Industrial Developments Limited (P
The second count states: “That you, Olasupo Shasore, SAN, corruptly gave the sum of USD100,000.00 (One Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) to one Mr. Ikechukwu Oguine (Secretary to the Corporation and Coordinator, Legal Services, NNPC) in connection with the arbitration proceedings brought by Process and Industrial Developments Limited (P&ID) against you on or about the 18th day of November 2014 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Hon
On the counts, he entered a “not guilty” plea. The matter was adjourned till today for trial, and during today’s sessions, the prosecuting attorney, Bala Sanga, informed the court that he was prepared to move forward with the trial.
He declared, “We have two witnesses in court, and we are prepared. However, the principal defense attorney, Chijioke Okoli, SAN, informed the court that the defense had submitted a request for an adjournment on December 2, 2022, adding that the defense need some further papers from the prosecution.
Sanga acknowledged receiving the application. As long as the defense acknowledges that the adjournment is at their request, we won’t oppose, he added.
Okoli then moved the aforementioned application.
In response to the defense’s request for further papers, Sanga addressed the court and stated: “This is one case out of approximately 103 instances on investigations going on surrounding Process and Industrial Developments Limited, P&ID.
There are currently at least 21 criminal cases in progress.
That means that in addition to the trials, we have 153 files with a total of almost 30,000 papers in them.
The law states that proof of evidence, not proof of defense, is what is required, therefore we can only volunteer to provide them with what we can.
We are more than happy to provide them with pertinent documentation as requested.
Sanga further informed the court that he is “a attorney in advising capacity” and that the parent case involving P& ID begins in London in January.
The case was postponed to April 4, 5, and 6, 2023, “for trial,” by Justice Dada.
