Agbele
THE
Federal High Court in Abuja yesterday granted Ekiti State Governor
Ayodele Fayose’s associate Abiodun Agbele a bail of N500 million.
Justice Nnamdi Dimgba said as part of
the bail conditions, “the defendant shall produce two sureties in the
sum of N250 million each with prove of property ownership in either in
Abuja or Lagos”.
“The sureties can be private businessmen
or professionals and where they are civil servants, they should not
hold a position less than a director
“The defendant shall also deposit his
international passport with the court and can only travel outside the
country upon receipt of permission of the court,” Justice Dimgba said.
He added that Agbele should remain in prison custody until he was able to meet the bail condition.
Agbele and three others were arraigned
on an 11-count of money laundering by the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) to the tune of N4.6 billion allegedly transferred
from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) by Col. Sambo
Dasuki (rtd).
The other defendants are: Sylvan Mcnamara Ltd, De Privateer Ltd and Spotless Investment Ltd.
Ruling on the bail application
yesterday, Justice Dimgba noted that every citizen charge is entitled to
prepare for his defence in an atmosphere devoid of fear.
According to the judge, the prosecution
failed to show that the defendant, if granted bail, would interfere with
the course of justice or destroy evidence – a condition, which, he
said, bail can be denied.
Having listened to the plea of the
defence counsel to grant bail on liberal terms, Justice Dimgba noted
that the terms of bail must serve certain conditions such as the
defendant not fleeing before his trial and in the case of corruption,
the court must show that it is playing its part in eradicating it.
When the case came up for hearing on
Wednesday, Agbele pleaded not guilty to the charge, following which his
lawyer, Mike Ozekhome (SAN), argued his bail application.
But the lead prosecution lawyer, Johnson
Ojogbane, objected on the grounds that the Fayose’s ally would jump
bail and interfere with prosecution witnesses, if granted bail.
Also a detective with the EFCC, Samson
Oloje, who deposed to the counter-affidavit, described Agbele as “a
flight risk” and that he has “perfected plans to flee from the country
until he was arrested”.
“The applicant in conjunction with
Musiliu Obanikoro (now at large) colluded to move and aid the escape of
Olalekan Ogunseye, a principal suspect in this case, out of Nigeria and
if released on bail, will also flee from jurisdiction.
“The defendant/applicant, prior to his
arrest, was still in contact with the said Olalekan and plans have also
been concluded to get the defendant out of the country by Musiliu
Obanikoro and his principal, Ayodele Fayose, the Governor of Ekiti
State,” Oloje said.
The matter has been adjourned till October 26 and 27 for the beginning of trial.
Culled from Nation
No comments:
Post a Comment