Turaki, a
two-term governor is facing multiple charges bordering on criminal conspiracy,
stealing, money laundering and misappropriation of public funds.
After his was arraigned
in 2007, he went into hiding and was subsequently declared wanted by the EFCC,
for failing to present himself for trial. A warrant directing the Inspector
General of Police or his officers, as well as the EFCC, to arrest him, was also
issued by the court.
But attempts to
execute the warrant failed, as Turaki remained elusive until July 4, 2017 when
operatives of the Commission finally apprehended him at a public function in
Abuja.
The defendant who
was in the dock to take his plea to a charge filed in July 2007, pleaded not
guilty to all the counts.
Count 31 of the
charge reads:
“That you,
Ibrahim Saminu Turaki, on or about 15th July, 2006 at Abuja, within
the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court did conspire with Natural Resources
Ltd, Arkel Construction Nigeria Ltd, Wildcat Construction Ltd and Ahmed Ibrahim
Mohammed (now at large) to launder the sum of N5,200,000,000.00 (Five Billion,
Two Hundred Million Naira ) and you thereby committed an offence contrary
to section 17 (A) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2004, and
Punishable under Section 14 (1) of the same Act.”
Particulars of
count 32 read:
“That you,
Ibrahim Saminu Turaki, INC Natural Resources Ltd, Arkel Construction Nigeria
Ltd, Wildcat Construction Ltd and Ahmed Ibrahim Mohammed (now at large) on or
about 3rd May, 2006 at Abuja, with the jurisdiction of this
Honorable Court did collaborate in concealing the genuine nature of the sum of
$20,000,000.00 USD (Twenty Million United State Dollars) which sum was derived
from an illegal act and you thereby committed an offence punishable under
Section 14 (1) (b) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2004.”
Upon his plea,
counsel to the EFCC, M. S. Abubakar, relying on Section 300 of the Administration
of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 asked for a date to commence trial.
However, Turaki’s
counsel, Ahmed Raji, SAN, through an oral application prayed the court to admit
the defendant to bail saying, “He is not an ordinary citizen”.
He added that the
defence was not aware of his arraignment today; otherwise they would have come
with a formal application.
Responding, Abubakar
opposed the oral application stressing that, “the defendant did not come to
court upon his free will, but was arrested pursuant to a bench warrant issued
in September 2014 by Justice Yahuza of the Federal High Court, Dutse.”
He added that,
“bail is to ensure attendance and from the antecedent of the defendant, it is
clear that if he is released, he would not be available to stand trial and that
would defeat the essence of bail”.
The vacation
judge, after hearing arguments from both sides, gave the counsel some time to
agree on bail terms to further accelerate the process.
At the resumed
sitting, Justice Dimgba admitted the accused to bail in the sum of N500million
with two sureties in the sum of N250million each. The sureties must either be a
businessman, a professional or civil servant of the federation not below the
rank of director. Each surety must own a landed property within the FCT
excluding the satellite towns and must depose to affidavit of means. The
sureties must present their current tax clearance certificate issued by Federal
Inland Revenue Service.
The judge also
ordered Turaki to deposit his travel documents to the registry of the court and
must not travel outside Nigeria without the permission of the court and by
application on notice and the prosecution is served. The first defendant
(Turaki) shall report to the EFCC on the first working day of every month until
the court sees the need to dispense with the order.
Additionally the
judge said, “The EFCC working with the court shall verify the satisfaction of
the bail conditions. The court shall only approve of the release of the
defendant and sign a warrant to that effect upon the receipt of the letter from
EFCC confirming indeed the conditions have been met and that the EFCC is
satisfied with the bail conditions. The court shall verify all conditions,
which should be met within 24 hours”.
Meanwhile, the
defendant is to be remanded in Kuje prison until he meets his bail terms.
The case has been
adjourned to September 19, 2017 for trial at the Dutse Judicial Division.
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