The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) on Wednesday arraigned a former Managing Director of the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending Plc (NIRSAL), Aliyu Abdulhameed, before a Federal High Court in Abuja.
The former NIRSAL MD, who was sacked from office by former President Muhammadu Buhari on December 1, 2022, was arraigned alongside Babangida Abdullahi on a ten-count charge bordering on conspiracy and document forgery.
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CR/555/2023, the police said the defendants and others, now at large, were alleged to have, about October 23, 2023, conspired among themselves to commit an offence of forgery.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges preferred against them.
The prosecuting counsel, Celestine Odo, then urged the court to remand the defendants at the Kuje Custodial Centre.
Odo also informed the court he had penciled down five witnesses to prosecute the case and added that the prosecution would not call more than three witnesses to establish their case against the defendants, noting that documentary evidence would be tendered by the witnesses.
The trial judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo, noted that he would take documentary evidence in a bundle, saying, “You are going to bundle the documentary evidence per witness and paginate it from page 1 to the end.
“I will take the documentary evidence in a bundle and will not entertain any objection on admissibility. Parties will be at liberty to address the court after the trial on both admissibility and probative value,” the Judge held.
The counsel for the defendants, Akin Olujimi (SAN), while applying for his clients’ bail, told the court that he had filed an application to that effect on February 24 and added that the prosecution had not filed any counter-affidavit in opposition.
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When asked, Odo confirmed that the defence counsel served them with the application, adding that the prosecution was not opposing the request, and the judge subsequently admitted the defendants to bail on the terms of the administrative bail.
He ordered the prosecution to transfer the particulars of their bail to the court registry and adjourned the matter till May 20, 21, 22, and 23 for trial.
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