Alleged N27bn fraud: Taraba ex-gov, Darius Ishaku, former official remanded

A Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, Abuja, on Monday, ordered the remand of former Taraba State governor, Darius Ishaku, and former Permanent Secretary of the Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Bello Yero, in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC).

The duo had been arrested on September 27, 2024, over allegations of diverting N27 billion belonging to the Bureau.

The EFCC, in the case marked CR/792/24, accused them of misappropriating N1.01 billion between August 2015 and March 2016, an amount that was part of the 2.5% contingency funds designated for the Bureau.

The charges against the defendants, filed under Section 315 of the Penal Code A, Cap 532, Laws of the Federal Capital Territory, also involved additional sums diverted over various periods, including N650.7 million, N193 million, and N170.5 million between 2019 and 2021.

The EFCC noted that the misappropriation of these funds was a violation of the Penal Code and punishable under the same section.

Upon their arraignment, the defendants, according to a statement by the EFCC’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, said they pleaded not guilty to the offenses preferred against them by the commission.

Oyewale said the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, asked the court for a trial date as well as an accelerated hearing of the matter.

He added that Paul Haris Ogbole, SAN, and Oluwa Damilola Kayode, counsel for Ishaku and Yero respectively made oral bail applications, which Jacobs opposed, insisting on formal applications.
Oyewale said the trial judge adjourned the matter till Thursday, October 3, for hearing on bail applications and ordered that the defendants be remanded in EFCC’s custody.

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