Thursday 31 May 2018

Ex-Kaduna Governor, Minister And Others Remanded In Prison

A Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna has remanded a former governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, and three others in prison.

Others charged alongside the former governor are a former Minister of State for Power, Nuhu Wya; a former Secretary to Kaduna State government, Hamza Ishaq; and a former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kaduna, Haruna Gaya.

Justice Mohammed Shuaibu gave the remand order on Thursday, after they were arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on same day.

Mr Yero and the other defendants were charged with four counts bordering on money laundering, criminal conspiracy, misappropriation of public fund, and breach of trust.


They were arraigned over their roles in the disbursement of N750 million campaign fund for the PDP during the 2015 general election.

They had been reporting to the Kaduna zonal office of the EFCC for the past two months in line with the procedure for investigations.

On Wednesday, the commission detained them ahead of the arraignment.

“The case is coming up tomorrow; so I can confirm to you that the former governor is here with us and he will be arraigned at the courts with the three others,” an EFCC source had said.

They, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were read to them on Thursday.

Counsel to Mr Yero, Yunus Ustaz, subsequently made an oral application for the bail of his client or worse still be remanded in EFCC custody.

His oral application was, however, opposed by the EFCC counsel Joshua Saidi who insisted that the four accused persons be taken to prison, as the Commission does not have enough detention facility to accommodate them.

Giving in his ruling after listening to both arguments, Justice Shuaibu agreed with the submission of the prosecuting counsel and, therefore, asked the defence counsel to file a written application for bail.

He also ordered that the four accused persons be remanded in prison custody till the next sitting.

The judge then adjourned the case till June 6, for ruling on the bail application.

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