The Supreme Court has validated the provisions of Section 306 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 and Section 40 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act 2004, both of which prohibit courts from granting an order of stay of proceedings in an ongoing criminal trial.
A five-man panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Dattijo Muhammed, unanimously held in its ruling delivered on Friday that by virtue of the provisions of both laws, no Nigerian court, including the Supreme Court, had the power to stay proceedings in a criminal case.
The apex court made the pronouncements in a ruling dismissing an application for stay of proceedings in the criminal trial of a former National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Olisa Metuh, before a Federal High Court in Abuja.
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