Alleged N650m fraud: Former minister Akinjide granted leave to travel

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on Wednesday adjourned till March 6th, the trial of Olajumoke Akinjide, a former Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory.

Nigerian Tribune recalls that Akinjide along with Senator Ayo Adeseun and a Peoples Democratic Party stalwart, Chief Olanrewaju Otiti, are facing trial on an amended 24-count charge bordering on money laundering to the tune of N650 million.

The charges were brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

At Wednesday’s proceedings,  Akinjide’s counsel, Bolaji Ayorinde, SAN, moved a motion asking the court to release his client’s international passport in order for her to be able to travel to the United Kingdom, for her daughter’s wedding.

Justice Muslim Hassan granted the application.

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Counsel for Adeseun and Otiti, also brought an application before the court, seeking that the Judge should recuse himself from the trial on the grounds that he was a former employee of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and would, therefore, be biased.

Consequently, Justice Hassan fixed March 6, to rule on the application.

The defendants were re-arraigned before Justice Hassan on January 16, 2018, on the amended charges.

A prosecution witness, Usman Zakari, had told the court in his evidence that the defendants collected the money at the Dugbe branch of Fidelity Bank in Ibadan, Oyo State, on the standing instruction of a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke.

According to the EFCC, the N650 million was part of a total sum of N23 billion, which Diezani had allegedly warehoused in the bank in the buildup to the 2015 general election.