The Commissioner, together with one other official, Peter Popnen, was arraigned before Justice Salihu Saidu on a five-count charge bordering on gratification and money laundering to the tune of N185, 842,000k( One Hundred and Eighty Five Million, Eight Hundred and Forty Two Thousand Naira only).
Specifically, the two former INEC officials got into trouble, for allegedly collecting the sum of N185, 842,000k in the weeks preceding the 2015 Presidential election as a bribe. They are among the over 100 INEC Officials that allegedly collected part of the $115million (N23bn), disbursed by a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison- Madueke, during the countdown to the 2015 presidential election.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were read to them.
In his ruling, Justice Saidu turned down the 1st defendant’s application for bail and ordered that she should be remanded in EFCC’s custody pending the determination of her bail.
He, however, granted the 2nd defendant bail in the sum of N100, 000.000, 00k (One Hundred Million Naira only) and two sureties in like sum. The sureties must be resident within Port Harcourt, one of the sureties must have a landed property within the jurisdiction of the court, the second surety must be a civil servant on the rank of a Deputy Director and above within the jurisdiction of the court.
Also, the two sureties must depose to an affidavit of means with their passport photographs affixed to the affidavit. Additionally, the defendant must deposit his international passport with the court registry and the sureties must be verified by the prosecution and the court registrar.
The judge adjourned the matter to 9 June, 2017 for argument on bail applications and ordered the 2nd defendant to be remanded in prison custody pending the perfection of his bail.
No comments:
Post a Comment