The
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,
EFCC, on Thursday
October
14th,
2010,
re-arraigned
former
Senate Committee Chairman on Power, Senator
Nicholas Ugbane, his House of
Representatives counterpart,
Hon.
Godwin Elumelu, and Hon Jibo Mohammed at the
Federal Capital Territory, FCT High Court,
Abuja, before Justice Abimbola Banjoko on a
fresh 65 count charge bordering on
defrauding the government in the Rural
Electrification Agency project.
Specifically, the trios are standing trial
for allegedly siphoning about N5.2 billion
from the coffers of the Rural
Electrification Agency domiciled with the
Central Bank of Nigeria in the guise of
paying over 65 alleged fictitious companies
that were purportedly awarded contracts
for Grid Extension and Solar
Electricity project.
At
the re-arraignment proceedings,
the three sitting lawmakers pleaded
not guilty to the charges, however,
EFCC prosecution counsel,
Godwin Obla, prayed the court for a
short date within which to commence trial
and to present witnesses, stressing that the
EFCC paramount interest was in accelerated
trial.
Counsel
to the first accused , S I Ameh (SAN),
prayed the court to sustain
the bail earlier granted his client,
promising that the sureties are ready
to stand by the earlier commitments, the
other accused persons aligned themselves
with the pleas of the 1st accused. . Justice
Abimbola Banjoko, after listening to the 65
count-charges read out one by one to the
three accused, adjourned the case till
December
6 and 7
2010 for definite hearing.
Ugbane,
Elumelu and seven others were originally
arraigned
on Friday 30th October, 2009 on a 130 count
charge.
The charges were separated thus:
The three lawmakers among them were
originally and jointly facing a 62 count
charge while the other six accused are
jointly facing a 68 count charge. The three
lawmakers are: Hon. Godwin Ndidi Elumelu,
Senator Nicholas Yahaya Ugbane and Hon. Jibo
Mohammed. The other accused are Engr. Samuel
Ibi Gekpe, Dr. Abdullahi Aliyu, Simon Kirdi
Nanle, Engr. Lawrence Kayode Orekoya,
Abdulsamad Garba Jahun and Barrister Kayode
Oyedeji.
One
of the fresh count charges reads: “that you
Senator Nicolas Yahaya Ugbane, Hon. Ndudi
Godwin Elumelu, and Hon. Jibo Mohammed,
sometime in December 2008, in Abuja within
the Abuja Judicial Division of the High
court of the Federal Capital Territory of
Nigeria, while serving as the Chairman,
Senate committee on power, Chairman, House
of Representatives Committee on Power,
respectively; abetted the commission of an
offence, to wit: Criminal Breach of trust by
Public Servants in the purported award of 4
(Nos) Solar Electrification contracts to
Helping Hands International Ltd,
cumulatively amounting to N119,669,654.28(
One hundred and Nineteen Million, Six
Hundred and Sixty Nine Thousand, Six Hundred
and Fifty Four Naira, Twenty Eight Kobo
Only) which contract were unlawfully awarded
from the 2008 Amended Budget of the Rural
Electrification Agency (REA); and thereby
committed an offence contrary to
Section 83(b0 and punishable under Section
85 of the penal code Act Cap 532 Laws of the
Federation of Nigeria(Abuja) 1990.”
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