Justice
Nnamdi O. Dimgba of the Federal High Court, Abuja on Tuesday, June 7,
2016 ordered the remand of Azibaola Robert, a cousin of ex- president
Goodluck Jonathan in Kuje Prison pending the determination of his bail
application.
Azibaola
and his wife, Stella, were arraigned alongside their company, One Plus
Holding Limited on a seven 7-count charge bordering on money laundering,
criminal breach of trust and corruption by the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission.
The couples were alleged to
have diverted $40million (forty million US dollars) purportedly meant
for the supply of tactical communication kits for Special Forces.
The
money was transferred from the account of the Office of the National
Security Adviser with the Central Bank of Nigeria to the domiciliary
account of their company, One Plus Holdings.
The
offence is in contravention of Section 8(a) of the Money Laundering
(Prohibition) Act, 2011 as amended in 2012 and punishable under Section
15 (3) of the same Act"
Count one reads:
"That
you, Azibaola Robert (M), being the Managing Director/ Chief Executive
Officer (MD/CEO) and a signatory to the Zenith Bank account of ONE PLUS
HOLDINGS. LTD; Mrs. Stella Azibaola Robert, being a director and a
signatory to the Zenith Bank account of ONE PLUS HOLDINGS NIG. LTD and
Amobi Ogum (M) (now at large) on or about the 8th September, 2014 in
Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did conspire
among yourselves to commit an illegal act to wit; money laundering of
the sum of $40,000,000.00 (Forty Million United States Dollars)
transferred to the domiciliary account of ONE PLUS HOLDINGS NIG.LTD with
Zenith Bank Plc, Account No. 5070365750 from the account of the Office
of the National Security Adviser with the Central Bank of Nigeria upon a
transfer mandate Ref. No. 128/S.5LX/139 purporting to be for the supply
of Tactical Communication Kits for Special Forces and you thereby
committed an offence contrary to Section 8(a) of the Money Laundering
(Prohibition) Act, 2011 as amended in 2012 and punishable under Section
15 (3) of the same Act"
The defendants pleaded not guilty to all the counts preferred against them.
In
view of their plea, counsel to EFCC, Aliyu Yusuf urged the court to fix
a date for trial and remand the accused in prison custody.
However,
Robert’s counsel, Chris Uche, SAN, told the court that he had a pending
application dated May 24, 2016 brought pursuant to Section 36 (5) of
the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 seeking for the
bail of his client to enable the defence prepare for trial.
Moving the bail application, Uche argued that bail is at the discretion of the court, adding that the offence is bailable.
He
went on to inform the court that, the defendant had been in EFCC
custody for over two months and the constitution is clear on how long a
suspect should be kept before being arraigned.
To this, Uche contended that Robert’s right as a citizen to bail as guaranteed by law had been breached.
The same argument was also canvassed by Stella's counsel, Gordy Uche, SAN, to seek her bail.
Uche stated that Stella had been on administrative bail granted by the EFCC and has not breached any of the terms.
Responding, counsel to EFCC, Aliyu Yusuf opposed both applications.
He
urged the court to refuse the applications considering the severity of
the offence which according to him carried a punishment of between 7 to
21 years imprisonment.
On the issue of the
detention of the first defendant, Yusuf told the court that at no time
did EFCC detain any defendant without a valid court order.
He
said that the second defendant who predicated her application for bail
on health grounds did not provide any medical report to back it up.
While
Justice Dimgba ruled that Stella could continue to enjoy the
administrative bail earlier granted her by the EFCC and adjourned to
June 8, 2016 for ruling on the bail application of the first defendant.
Wilson Uwujaren
Head, Media & Publicity
7th June, 2016
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