The Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, EFCC, on Monday, May 28, 2018 arraigned the duo of Engineer Umar
Saidu Bamali and Adeniyi Adeosun before Justice Daniel Longji of the State High
Court sitting Jos, Plateau State, on a 6-count charge of conspiracy,
misappropriation of funds and criminal breach of trust.
Trouble started for Bamali, a former
Director and Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria Institute of Mining and
Geosciences, NIMG, and Adeosun, the Procurement Officer, when a staff of NIMG petitioned
the EFCC on how the defendants allegedly converted to their personal use,
millions of naira belonging to NIMG.
Investigations into the matter
revealed that the defendants diverted over N70million, money meant for
allowances of staff of NIMG and contracts of printing of security and non
security documents.
Specifically, Bamali, in 2015 allegedly
misappropriated the sum of N32million belonging to the Institute, a sum he
claimed was used as allowances for staff, while nobody was promoted that year.
He was also said to have converted
to personal use, over N17million belonging to NIMG, a sum realized by the
Institute from the training conducted for Kano Youths, through the State
Government.
Adeosun, in his own case was said to
have received over N8million as kickbacks to compromise his official duties.
One of the counts reads;
"That you, Engr. Umar Saidu
Bamali, 'M', being the Director/Chief Executive Officer Nigeria Institute of Mining
and Geosciences (NIMG) on or about 2015 in Jos within the jurisdiction of this
Honourable Court, dishonestly misappropriated the sum of N32,000,000 (Thirty
Two Million Naira) property of Nigeria Institute of Mining and Geosciences
(NIMG) purportedly used as allowances for staff of the Institute while nobody
was promoted in the year 2015, the said sum domiciled in NIMG Personal Cost A/C
No. 1230100150406901 (1232021028) at the Ecobank Nigeria Ltd. FG/North (Jos) Branch
and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 311 and punishable under
Section 312 of the Penal Code Law of Plateau State".
The defendants pleaded not guilty to
the charge.
In view of their pleas, Steve
Odiase, counsel to the EFCC, prayed the court for a trial date to enable the
prosecution presents its witnesses.
However, Paul Golu and T. J. Danjuma
representing Bamali and Adeosun respectively informed the court of pending bail
applications separately filed on behalf of their clients. The counsel urged the
court to admit the defendants to bail.
Odiase opposed the applications
informing the court that “I was served this morning and I need time to go through
them and respond”.
Justice Longji, thereafter, ordered
that the defendants be remanded in prison custody pending the hearing of the
bail applications on June 1, 2018.
No comments:
Post a Comment