it is the accused person's right to get an adjournment once the counsel briefed by, or assigned to, him is absent", see per Nnaemeka-Agu JSC in Udo v. State (supra) 187; also, Udofia v State (1988) 7 SCNJ (pt 1) 118, 123; this is so because the representation of any person accused of the commission of an offence by a legal practitioner at the trial is one of the fundamental rights guaranteed by section 36 of the 1999 Constitution: a section which introduces or perpetuates what Lord Denning referred to as "the fundamental principle of a fair trial", Tameshwar v The Queen (1975) AC 476, 486, approvingly cited in Udo v State (supra) 189 ; thus, if the charge is for a capital offence and the accused person is unrepresented by counsel of his choice, the court has a statutory duty to provide such representation, Nemi v State (1994) 10 SCNJ 1, 29.

A trial involving a capital offence cannot be said to be fair when an accused person, standing trial for his life, has to conduct the case himself, at any stage of the trial, as against the counsel for the prosecution, who is, almost always, the Director of public Prosecutions, Udo v State (supra).

To permit such an accused person to "slug out his defence...against the prosecution" would be contrary to the spirit of section 36 (6) (c) and (d) of the Constitution, Udo v State (supra); The State (Hearly) v Donoghue (1976) 1 R 325 (decision of the Irish Supreme Court), adopted approvingly in Udo v State (supra) 189.

In all, the weight of judicial authorities preponderates in favour of the view that an accused standing trial for a capital offence must be defended by counsel at every stage of the trial. Unarguably, the arraignment of an accused person in court is a crucial stage of the trial process. Hence, counsel must be present when his plea is being taken, Udo v State (supra).

Against the background of these weighty authorities, I have no choice than to err on the side of these prescriptions: prescriptions firmly anchored on a proactive construction of the constitutional right to a fair trial.

"PER NWEZE, J.C.A in GBENGA ORIYOMI ADEBOYE v. THE STATE
CITATION: (2011) LPELR-CA/IL/C.62A/2010