Obado plea bargain talks collapse as EACC, DPP disagree

The Anti-Corruption Court heard that the two agencies failed to agree on the terms of the proposed plea agreement in Obado’s ongoing corruption case.

EACC told the court that although a meeting was held on October 30 at the DPP’s office as directed, the talks broke down after parties disagreed on the interpretation of the court’s earlier directions.

“We raised our reservations regarding the plea agreement before this court. However, we agreed to engage in further negotiations to ensure the agreement is drafted according to the law. Unfortunately, those talks collapsed,” the EACC official said.

The commission has now asked the court to determine whether the plea agreement presented by the DPP meets the legal requirements.

Defence lawyers supported EACC’s position, confirming that the meeting took place but yielded no consensus.

“I do confirm we met at the DPP’s office on the 30th and support the position presented by Nora. We pray for a ruling or a decision on how parties should proceed,” defence counsel said.

Another lawyer representing the accused added that the disagreement stemmed from “different interpretations” of the law governing plea bargains.

The court has scheduled a hearing for December 8 to determine the way forward on the contested plea bargaining application.