Justice Mikail Abdullahi of the Niger State High Court has insisted that former Governor Babangida Aliyu and his ex-chief of staff, Umar Nasko, must face trial.
On Tuesday, he dismissed the application brought by Tanko Beji.
Beji is the third defendant and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chairman in Niger.
The politician’s request sought to strike out the N2 billion fraud case against him, Aliyu and Nasko.
The trio are facing a seven-count charge of money laundering and criminal breach of trust.
Prosecution counsel Faruk Abdalla countered the application with a six-paragraph affidavit deposed to by Hadiza Afegbua, a staff of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Abdalla urged the court to uphold as valid, the re-arraignment of the defendants.
Justice Mikail granted the prayer and adjourned the matter until December 16 and 17, 2020.
