Court grants Taraba ex-gov, Ishaku, N150m bail in alleged N27b fraud suit

Issues public summons against Yahaya Bello

Justice Sylvanus Oriji of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, yesterday, admitted former governor of Taraba State, Darius Ishaku, to bail in the sum of N150 million in the alleged N27 billion fraud suit brought against him by the Federal Government.

He was granted bail with two sureties in like sum.

However, one of the sureties must be a Federal Government employee and a director.

Similarly, the duo must be residents in the FCT, with their house addresses to be verified by the registrar of the court.

Besides, Justice Oriji barred the ex-governor and his co-defendant, Bello Yero, from traveling out of the country except with the permission of the court.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), through its counsel, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), did not oppose the bail request.

His ground was that the anti-graft agency, on its own, granted Ishaku an administrative bail, and did not abuse it.

Justice Oriji thereafter fixed November 4, 5 and 13 for commencement of trial.

Ishaku, who left office in 2023 after serving as governor for eight years, was slammed with 15 count charges by EFCC but pleaded not guilty when he was arraigned on Monday.

In the copy of the charge sheet dated September 27, the ex-governor and erstwhile Permanent Secretary of Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Bello Yero, were the two defendants.

In the charge marked CR/792/24, the plaintiff accused the defendants of diverting the sum of N1,010,000,000 for their personal use between August 25, 2015, and March 21, 2016, in Abuja.

It claimed that the amount formed part of the 2.5 per cent contingency funds belonging to the Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.

The EFCC alleged that the duo committed an offence contrary to Section 315 of the Penal Code A, Cap 532, Laws of the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria 2007 and punishable under the same section.

Ishaku and Yero were also accused of diverting an aggregate of N1,138,082,097.71 which formed part of the 2.5 per cent contingency fund belonging to the Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs between July 2015 and May 2019.

Also, between September 3, 2015, and January 29, 2018, in Abuja, the defendants were accused of diverting the sum of N761,301,000 to defray the loan of N1 billion “granted by Zenith Bank Plc to your company, Worthy Construction Limited.”

ALSO, an FCT High Court in Maitama has issued a public summons against the immediate past governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, to appear and attend to a fresh 16-count charge against him.

By the invitation, Bello is to attend court on October 24 in response to his arraignment along with two other defendants.

Justice Maryanne Anenih issued the order in a ruling yesterday, following an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The judge ordered the plaintiff to publish the public summons in a widely circulating newspaper

She also mandated the EFCC to pass copies of the public summons to Bello’s last known address, and in conspicuous places within the court premises.

The EFCC had claimed that it has been unable to serve Bello with the charge filed on September 24 in which the ex-governor and two others were charged with criminal breach of trust to the tune of N110.4 billion.

The other two defendants in the charge are Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu.

Bello’s absence stalled the arraignment earlier scheduled for yesterday.