By Giwa SHILE
Former Bauchi commissioner for Finance, Alhaji Garba Dahiru, and three others on Thursday appeared before the Federal High Court in Bauchi, charged with laundering N312.77 million while in office.
Others arraigned before Justice Muhammad Shittu of the court are Haliru Abdullahi, Sale Gamawa and Aminu Gadiya.
The defendants were arraigned separately by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on two count charge each bordering on conspiracy and accepting cash payment exceeding the threshold as provided by law.
TBI Africa reports that Garba Dahiru and Haliru Abdullahi, while members of Finance and Funds Disbursement Committee of People Democratic Party (PDP), accepted N172,310,000.
They were said to have committed the act sometimes in March, 2015 in Bauchi, when they received the said fund from the Directorate of Finance, Bauchi State PDP Campaign Organisation.
According to the charge, the actions of the defendants exceeds the required threshold of cash payment, thereby amounting to the commitment of an offense Contrary to Section 1, 16 (1) (d) and Punishable under Section 16 (2) (b) of the Money Laundering ( prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended).
The charge also indicated that Sale Gamawa, and Aminu Gadiya, sometime in March 2015 while being members of Finance and Fund disbursement committee of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) 2015 General Elections, accepted cash payment of N142, 77. million from the Directorate of Finance, Bauchi State PDP Campaign Organisation.
It said that the amount transacted exceeded the required threshold of cash payment, thereby amounting to the commitment of an offence contrary to Section 1, 16 (1) (d) and Punishable under Section 16 (2) (b) of the Money Laundering Act, 2011 (as amended) now No.1, 2012.
When the charge was read to the defendants, they pleaded not guilty.
Patrick Oyiocho, Counsel to the defendants, at this juncture, urged the court to allow his clients continue to enjoy an administrative bail earlier granted them by the commission.
Oyiocho told the court that more ever, the defendants did not jump bail while enjoying the administrative bail granted them by the anti-graft commission.
He said that he had filed an application before the court and therefore prayed it (court) to allow him move the bail application.
However, council to the commission, Abubakar Aliyu, objected, saying “there is quite a different between administrative bail and court bail, therefore, they must apply to the court.”
Aliyu insisted that the application filed in court could not stand because it did not meet the requirements for granting the defendants bail.
“There is nowhere in the whole affidavit which shows that the defendants have undertaken not to intimidate prosecution witnesses, or will not influence the outcome of the trial.
“These are cardinal principles in granting bail, therefore, I urged your lordship not to grant the defendants bail,” he insisted.
In his ruling on the application, the judge, Shittu , observed that the offence they were being charged was not capital offence, whereby there is fear that the defendants may jump bail.
He, therefore, granted all the defendants bail in the sum of N50 million each and two sureties each in like sum.
He ordered that one of the sureties must be a civil servant on salary Grade Level 10, while one of each of the sureties must own landed property in Bauchi, covered by certificates of occupancy.
The judge also ordered the defendants to write an undertaking that they would not intimidate witnesses, or do anything that would influence the outcome of the case. He then adjourned the case to October 16 and October 17, 2018 respectively, for trial.
