Corruption Case: ICPC asks Court to Remand Civil Servant in Prison for Evading Trial
The
Honourable Justice Salisu Garba of FCT High Court 2, sitting in
Maitama, Abuja has ordered that one Mr. Oluwole Fayiga, an employee of
the Federal Ministry of Health be remanded in Kuje Prison for evading
trial.
The
order was premised on an oral application made by counsel to the
Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission
(ICPC), Mr. Iliya Ashom, for the revocation of a bail that had been
granted to the accused, because he had jumped bail twice.
Mr.
Fayiga was earlier granted administrative bail by ICPC, but disappeared
into thin air until the Commission’s investigating team re-arrested him
somewhere in Remo, Ogun State.
Thereafter,
he was arraigned in court but could not meet the conditions of the
court’s bail as spelt out by the judge and was remanded in prison.
Subsequently, his counsel applied for a variation of the bail
conditions, which was then granted by the court.
At
the commencement of trial, the defendant, Fayiga, claimed his supposed
voluntary statement was made under duress. Consequently, the case was
stood down for a trial-within-trial by the judge.
In
spite of that, the defendant and his counsel refused to appear in court
on two occasions, sending letters only on the morning of one of the
adjourned dates claiming to have been bereaved.
In
view of this apparent disregard for the court, ICPC’s counsel made an
oral application for the revocation of the accused person’s bail, which
the judge graciously granted and issued a Bench Warrant for his arrest
before the case was further adjourned to a later date.
However,
before the new adjourned date, the defense filed a motion seeking to
restore his client’s bail but, in a swift reaction, the prosecution
filed a counter-motion for the status quo to be maintained, noting that
the defendant had jumped bail twice.
On the new
adjourned date, the defendant and his counsel attended court, and
having heard the submission of each counsel, the judge ordered that the
accused be remanded in prison custody while the case was adjourned with
accelerated hearing in mind
It
is noteworthy that Mr. Fayiga had earlier been arraigned by the
Commission for criminal conspiracy, fraud, forgery, false representation
and abuse of office, thereby violating Sections 12, 16 and 19 of the
Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
He,
allegedly, had conspired with others and through impersonation of some
members of staff of the Federal Ministry of Health, fraudulently
obtained loans with forged documents from Messrs Credit Direct Limited,
(a subsidiary of First City Group), thereby defrauding the company to
the tune of Two Million, Nine Hundred and Sixty-Eight Thousand Naira
(N2,968,000.00).
Signed:
Rasheedat A. Okoduwa, mni
Spokesperson for the Commission
