An Ibadan High Court yesterday remanded former Oyo State Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala in the custody of the State Security Service (SSS).
The former governor was remanded alongside his former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Senator Hosea Agboola and Chairman of Pentagon Engineering Services, Mr Oluyemi Babalola.
They were arraigned before the court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged embezzlement of N25 billion.
The expected arraignment of former Ogun State Governor Gbenga Daniel and his Nasarawa State counterpart, Aliyu Akwe Doma, however, did not hold.
Akala and the two others are facing an 11-count charge.
According to charge No I/ 5 EFCC /2011 ,Akala and Agboola, in count one to five, were accused by the EFCC of awarding contracts worth N12 billion without budgetary provision .
Aside these charges, the former governor is facing prosecution for his alleged acquisition of properties in Ibadan and London.
Akala, according to EFCC, “Whilst he was the executive governor of Oyo State sometime in 2009 engaged in the acquisition of property known as Ile-Itesiwaju located at No 32 Oba Adebimpe Road, Old Gbagi ,Ibadan Oyo State and a property located at Bodija ,off Rotimi Williams Street, Ibadan.”
The EFCC also alleged that Akala in 2006 “ engaged in concealing the genuine nature of the ownership of a property at 4 Bromholm Road, Abbeywood, London SE2 9ND in the name of one Oyewole Ayemidara Akala, which said property was derived from criminal act.”
The former governor is also alleged to have “engaged in concealing the genuine nature of the ownership of a property at 124 Gladstone Road, Merton SW 19 QW, London in the name of One Magdalene Mojisola Akala which said property was derived from criminal act.”
Akala was equally accused the former governor of awarding contracts worth eight billion five hundred million for the construction of roads in the 33 local government areas in Oyo State.
The offence, according to EFCC, is contrary to Section 26 (1) (c) and punishable under Section 22 (4) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000.
The EFCC charged Babalola and Pentagon on a two-count charge of obtaining various sums of money between 2008 and 2009.
The EFCC charge claimed that the parties “sometime between 2008 and 2009 by false pretence with intent to defraud obtained the sum of 269,156,250;00 from the Oyo state local government joint account and sometime between 2008 and 2009, by false pretence with intent to defraud obtained the aggregate sum of N347,350,000;00 from various contractors engaged in road construction in the 33 local government areas in Oyo State.”
The three accused persons pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Counsel to the prosecution, Chief Godwin Obla (SAN), who led other two lawyers, urged the court to adjourn the case and fix a date for hearing.
He said under the Constitution, he is entitled to 48 hours to reply to the bail application filed by the accused persons.
But counsel to the accused, Mamman Osman (SAN), who led three Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Bolaji Ayorinde, N.O.O Oke, and G.M.O Oguntade, and other 10 lawyers, urged the court to hear the bail application.
Osman said Akala had been in the custody of the EFCC since October 6 and should have been arraigned earlier.
The presiding judge, Justice Mashood Abass, said the court would be unfair to the prosecution if it did not give it the mandatory constitutional period required to reply to the bail application.
Abass adjourned hearing of the bail application till today and ordered the three accused to be detained in SSS custody at Aleshinloye area of Ibadan.
Meanwhile, in Nasarawa State, reporters thronged the premises of the Federal High Court, Lafia for Doma’s trial.
A Federal High court official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Doma may not be arraigned until next Monday.
He said judges were attending a conference in Sokoto which may last till Friday.
Security vehicles were still stationed at strategic locations around the Federal High Court on Shendam Road to forestall any break down of law and order. Supporters of the Congress of Progressive Change (CPC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state clashed on Monday.
Residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, waited in vain at the Federal High Court, Oke-Mosan, in expectation of the arraignment of Daniel.
Daniel is accused of misappropriating N58 billion.
A source said the judge, who is to handle the case was in Sokoto State attending the 2011 Judges Conference.
via The Nation
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