AN FCT High Court in Apo, on Thursday, granted bail in the sum of N50m to a former Minister of Power and Steel, Olu Agunloye.
The court had remanded Agunloye who served under the Obasanjo Administration in the Kuje Correctional Service pending the hearing of his bail application over an alleged $6 billion fraud in connection to the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Station.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission arraigned Agunloye before Justice J.O. Onwuegbuzie on Wednesday, where he pleaded not guilty to the charges read to him.
Agunloye’s lawyer Adeola Adedipe, moved the motion and prayed the court to grant bail to his client by way of self-recognisance or in liberal terms, saying Argunloye is not a flight risk and that the notion canvassed by the prosecution was “out of misconception and communication barrier.”
Adedipe equally appealed to the court not to order the use of a public servant as surety for his client.
But the prosecution counsel opposed the bail application.
In his judgment, Justice Onwuegbuzie ruled that a N50 million bail be granted to the defendant and ordered him to produce two sureties in like sum.
The sureties must be “reputable” and “people of means” resident within the FCT. This is as they must have properties worth N300m with a Certificate of Occupancy that must be verifiable, the judge ruled.
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