A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Monday, ordered that former Interior Minister, Abba Moro and F.O. Aleyebami facing N676 million money laundering and fraud charges, to be remanded in Kuje prisons till Wednesday, March 2 when the application for their bail will be heard.
The trial Judge, Justice Anwuli Chikere, however, ordered that one of the defendants, a former permanent secretary of the ministry, Mrs. Nwobia a nursing mother should continue enjoying the administrative bail earlier granted her by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Justice Chikere gave the order on Monday, after Moro and the other three accused persons pleaded not guilty to the 11-count charge preferred against them by the EFCC, on their alleged involvement in the 2014 recruitment exercise of the Nigerian Immigration Services (NIS) in which no fewer than 20 job seekers died in a stampade.
Moro and the other defendants pleaded not guilty when the charges were read out to them on Monday.
The accused persons were alleged to have contravened the Public Procurement Act No. 65 of 2007 in the contract awards, by not following the necessary procedure laid down by the government.
According to the EFCC, the award of the contract to Drexel Tech Nigeria Limited had no prior advertisement, no needs assessment and a procurement plan was not carried out before the award of the contract.
The commission added that there was no budgetary provision for the exercise in the 2014 federal budget, hence, the applicants were made to bear the responsibility of funding the project without the approval of the board, contrary to Section 22(5) of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission Act, 2000.
The charge sheet reads in part: “Moro, Anastasia Nwobia, F.O. Alayebami and Mahmood Ahmadu (at large) and Drexel Tech Nigeria Ltd, allegedly defrauded Nigerian applicants to the tune of N676,675,000 representing N1,000 per applicant through e-payment for their online recruitment exercise into the Nigeria Immigration Service on March 17, 2013.
(Tribune)
