Court grants Jigawa ex-governor, Turaki, N1 billion bail

The Federal High Court, Abuja has admitted former governor of Jigawa State, Saminu Turaki, to a fresh bail in the sum of N500 million with two sureties at N250 million each.

Before yesterday’s bail, the court had granted Turaki bail when he first pleaded not guilty to a 32-count charge brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission‎ (EFCC).

Yesterday’s incident was the second time he was admitted to bail within a week. Justice Yusuf Halilu had last Thursday admitted the former governor to bail from the custody of the anti-graft agency.

In the fresh bail however, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, the new trial judge, held that ‎the sureties should either be businessmen, private persons or civil servants not below the level of a director and must have landed property within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) or any of the satellite towns in Abuja.

The judge also demanded that the sureties deposit their evidence of tax payment from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

He further requested the defendant to deposit his travel documents with the court’s registrar and must report to the headquarters of the EFCC every first working day of every month.