The trial of a former Director-General of NIMASA, Patrick Akpobolokemi, and five others, has been adjourned till February 28.

In his ruling, Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court, Lagos on Monday adjourned the case for cross-examination of the last prosecution witness.

Justice Buba expressed regrets on the adjournment on the grounds that he had ensured his punctuality in court to attend to the sole case on his diary even though the day marked his birthday.

“I am 59 years old today, and I am here in court, prepared to go on with the matter, hoping we would make progress.

“If I had this idea that the court will not sit, then, I wouldn’t have bothered.

“This is the only case listed in my diary for the week, and I came here in the hope that there would be a remarkable progress.”

The EFCC arraigned Akpobolokemi, and five others on a 22-count charge for allegedly converting to their own use N2.6bn between December 23, 2013 and May 28, 2015.

The other accused persons were Captain Agaba, Ekene Nwakuche and Governor Juan, Blockz and Stonz Ltd, Kenzo Logistics Ltd and Al-Kenzo Logistic Ltd.

The offences contravened sections 15 (1), 15 (3), and 18 (a) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2012.

The trial of the accused was earlier slated for January 9 to January 13, for the defence counsel to cross-examine the 11th witness for the EFCC, Chukwuma Orji, and for continuation of trial.

However, on Monday, the witness was unavoidably absent from court, following his trip to the United Kingdom with the acting Chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, for a meeting with the National Crime Agency.