A federal high court has ordered the immediate past governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, and his two sons, Aminu and Mustapha, accused of fraud, remanded in prison custody in Kano till September 28.
The former governor was arraigned on Thursday alongside his children for receiving N1.35billion kickback from a government contractor. The money was allegedly paid into accounts controlled by the governor and his sons.
Delivering a ruling, Justice Evelyn Anyadike ordered that the four accused be remanded in a Kano Prison Custody because the EFCC said they lacked enough facilities to accommodate them.
She rejected the pleas of defence counsel, Effiong Effiong, SAN, that the accused be kept at EFCC custody, saying the commission had complained of inadequate facilities.
The EFCC is accusing the four suspects of money laundering, amongst other charges.
Twenty eight-count charge bordering on a number of alleged breach of trust by Sule Lamido, Aminu Sule Lamido, Mustapha Sule Lamido and one Aminu Wada Abubakar, was read in court.
They pleaded not guilty after the charges were read to them. The case involved N1.35billion.
The judge ruled that the accused persons be remanded pending the hearing of their bail applications.
Earlier, the defence counsel, Mr. Effiong, had argued that remanding the accused persons in prison would amount to trampling on their fundamental human rights.
He pleaded they be sent to either of EFCC facilities in Abuja or Kano.
However, the counsel to the EFCC, Chile Okoroma, objected to the plea, saying EFCC facilities were full to capacity both in Kano and Abuja.
There was pandemonium in court between those supporting Lamido and those against him, leading the police to fire teargas canisters into the air to disperse the crowd.
The case was adjourned to September 28 for ruling on their bail applications. Chai, former governor!
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