FOR two former leaders of the lower chamber of the nation’s legislative house, the hope of freedom was again dashed yesterday as they were returned to  the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) having been unable to meet their bail conditions.

The bail came   from an Abuja High Court for immediate past Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dimeji Bankole and his deputy, Alhaji Usman Bayero Nafada  in the sum of N50 million each  with two sureties in like sum.

The trial Judge, Mr. Suleiman Belgore also ordered that Bankole’s and Nafada’s sureties should be permanent secretaries, working and resident in Abuja and must along with the former speaker submit two recent passport size photographs at the court’s registry.

However, the duo returned to the custody of EFCC having not been able to meet the bail conditions before the close of work in obedience to Mr. Judge Belgore’s order.

Clad in a white colour apparel as has become customary with him, it was difficult to see the usual boyish smile of the once boisterous No. 4 citizen as he could only occasionally put up a wry smile.

Earlier in the day, the request of the defence counsel, Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), to consolidate the application of the two accused for bail was granted. Awomolo who further argued that bail is a fundamental right of an accused especially if the case is not serious felony, prayed the court to grant the accused persons bail on self- recognition, more so that the former deputy speaker was sick.

“The purpose of bail is to enable the accused to attend trial. There is no sufficient reason brought by the prosecution for court to deny bail. If granted bail, my client would not jeopardize trial”, he explained.

But prosecution counsel, Festus Keyamo, who filed two counter-affidavits on June 15, 2011, argued that the second accused, Nafada, did not place before the court sufficient materials to back up his claims of ill-health. “It is trite law that when relying on health grounds, admissible medical report must be brought before the court for consideration on sympathetic grounds,” he stated.

Also speaking on the bail application for the former speaker, Keyamo contended that the status of an individual has nothing to do with statutory requirement of the law with regard to bail consideration. On the issue of having been granted bail earlier by another court, he submitted that the argument lacked substance.

“My lord, that some other court has granted bail to the first accused cannot fetter the hands of this court; especially in consideration of the fact that the proof of evidence of this case and charge are different from that of the other one”, Keyamo had said. After ruling on the bail application, the case was adjourned till July 19, 2011, for start of the trial.

Bankole and his deputy, Nafada, were on June 13, 2011, arraigned at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, on a fresh 17-count charge of criminal breach of trust, misappropriation and theft of N37.7 billion. They were alleged to have obtained and dishonestly disbursed N37.7 billion without the authorization and consent of the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission when Bankole and Nafada were Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.

On June 13, 2011, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja and presided over by Justice Donatus Okorowo  admitted the former speaker, who is being prosecuted on a 16-criminal count-charge of contract inflation and fraudulent embezzlement of public fund to bail.

Justice Okorowo, in his ruling, granted him bail in the sum of N5 million with one surety in like sum. The surety, who must be a responsible citizen of the country, must own a landed property in Abuja metropolis. Besides, he must tender the title deed of the property to the deputy chief registrar of the court for identification.   The court also ruled that both the surety and the accused person must surrender their travel documents to the court. The accused person, the judge ordered, must remain in EFCC custody until the conditions were met

-Guardian

Posted by admin on Jun 17 2011. Filed under Latest Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry