Court grants N500m bail to Saipem MD, others

Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has granted bail to the Managing Director of Saipem Contracting, Mr. Walter Peviana, and Kelechi Sinteh Chinakwe to the tune of N500 million.

Recalled that on January 11, this year, the two were remanded in the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre over an alleged conspiracy to defraud the Rivers State Government the sum of $130 million.

At the resumed hearing yesterday for bail consideration, the trial judge, Justice Okogbule Gbasam, granted bail to the defendants in the matter filed by the Rivers State Government as registered in suit number PHC/3106/CR/2021.

The prosecution in the matter is the Rivers State Government, while the defendants are Saipem SPA (1st defendant), Saipem Contracting Nigeria Limited (2nd defendant), Mr. Walter Peviana (3rd defendant), Kelechi Sinteh Chinakwe (4th defendant), Giandomenico Zingali (5th defendant), Vitto Testaguzza (6th defendant) and Davide Anelli (7th defendant).

Earlier, the defendants’ counsel for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 6th defendants, Odein Ajumogobia (a Senior Advocate of Nigeria,) and counsel for the 4th defendant, relying on Section 194, 169, of the Administration of Criminal Justice and Section 35, 36 of Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, pleaded for the bail of their clients.

But the applicant’s counsel, Godwin Obla, (a Senior Advocate of Nigeria), urged the court to dismiss the bail application for the defendants.

Obla argued that the money involved in the alleged offence if converted to Nigeria currency would amount to N32billion, which he said is about 6.7 per cent of the total state budget for the year.

Ruling on the bail application, Justice Gbasam expressed the discretion of the court in granting bail to the 2nd and 4th defendants ordered that they should present two sureties each, and surety for the 2nd defendant must be a principal officer of the 1st defendant (Saipem) and must own a landed property in the state with Certificate of Ownership.

Also, as the bail condition, the judge said the defendants should deposit their international passports to the court and sureties must deposit original papers of their landed properties to the court.

However, the court adjourned the matter till February 2, 3, and 4, 2022 for accelerated hearing.