Dimeji Bankole, former House Speaker
Soon after he was granted bail Monday by a judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dimeji Bankole, was immediately re-arrested by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
He was thereafter driven to Apo Division of the Abuja High Court where he was arraigned alongside his former deputy, Hon. Usman Nafada, on another 17-count charges bordering on illegally obtaining loans of N40 billion on behalf of the House of Representatives.
They both pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The former speaker’s father, Chief Alani Bankole, has however claimed that his son’s life is in danger.
The trial judge, Justice Suleiman Belgore, ordered that they be remanded in the custody of EFCC till Thursday when he would hear the accused persons’ bail application.
In the new charges, Bankole and Nafada were accused of committing criminal breach of trust when they allegedly conspired between themselves to approve the allowances and running cost of members of the House in violation of the approved Remuneration Package for Political, Public and Judicial Office Holders by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) and the extant Revised Financial Regulations of the Federal Government of Nigeria, 2009.
They were also accused of obtaining various loans totalling about N40 billion in contravention of the extant Revised Financial Regulations of the Federal Government of Nigeria, 2009 and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 311 of the Penal Code Act, Cap 532, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (Abuja) 1990 and punishable under Section 315 of the same Penal Code Act.
The EFCC also accused them of using the House’s accounts with the United Bank for Africa and the First Bank to obtain loans in a dishonest manner.
In other count charges, Bankole and Nafada were said to have dishonestly misappropriated the N40 billion loans obtained on behalf of the House.
Justice Donatus Okorowo of the Federal High Court had earlier granted bail to Bankole to the tune of N5 million with one surety who must be an owner of a landed property worth the bail sum within the jurisdiction of the court.
The surety is to deposit the title document of the property to the court's registrar for verification as to its authenticity.
The surety is also to deposit a copy of a recent passport size photograph as well as that of the former speaker.
The ruling followed the hearing of the bail application by the court last Friday. The court slated the ruling for Monday and remanded Bankole in the custody of EFCC pending the ruling.
Bankole had urged the court to grant him bail on self-recognition. He had argued that he was entitled to bail on self-recognition being the immediate past House speaker and a holder of national honour of Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR).
He further claimed that he had never been tried for any offence or convicted for any offence in Nigeria or any other jurisdiction and that his reputation and past record attest to the fact that he would not jump bail if granted one and also denied ever conspiring with anybody or group to inflate contracts as alleged by the EFCC.
He had also claimed to be solely responsible for the emotion and material support of his aged parents and other dependants who would be adversely affected by any denial of his bail.
In reaching the decision to grant bail to the former speaker, the court observed that certain paragraphs of the counter affidavits filed by the anti-graft agency breached the Evidence Act in that they did not disclose the source of their information regarding the alleged arrangements by the former speaker to abscond from the country through British Airways to London and subsequently expunged the offending paragraphs from the counter affidavit and held that the EFCC had failed in showing cause why bail should not be granted to the former speaker.
Consequently, the court exercised its discretion in Bankole's favour and granted him bail.
The court however stated that he should be remanded in the custody of the anti-graft agency if he failed to meet up with the bail conditions.
Meanwhile, the father of the ex-speaker, Chief Alani Bankole, has raised the alarm over the safety of his son in EFCC custody.
According to a statement signed by the media aide to the son, Chief Kayode Odunaro, the father said he had it on good authority that a plot was being perfected to ensure that his son does not come out of his “present ordeal” alive.
The father said intelligence sources both within and outside the country had contacted him to reach out to anybody who could help safeguard his son while in detention as his case “is not a judicial matter but political”.
He said there were desperate attempts by the EFCC to ensure that the erstwhile speaker remained in detention.
When Bankole got bail Monday, EFCC lawyer Festus Keyamo filed other charges and opposed bail while asking the court for a long adjournment to hear the new bail application.
Keyamo also reportedly told journalists outside the court that even after the second case, the EFCC was still going to bring more charges.
Chief Bankole called on well-meaning Nigerians to come to his aid in ensuring that his son “who served the nation meritoriously” is not harmed while in detention, recalling that a similar incident had occurred in the case of another member of the parliament, Hon. Maurice Ibekwe, who died while in EFCC custody under Nuhu Ribadu.
Source: thisdaylive
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