A federal capital territory (FCT) high court in Apo has refused to grant an application by Olu Agunloye, a former minister of power and steel, seeking to allow him to travel abroad for medical treatment.
In a ruling delivered on Wednesday, Jude Onwuegbuzie, the presiding judge, held that the defendant failed to adduce sufficient evidence to show that a hospital in Nigeria could not treat his ailment.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting Agunloye over a $6 billion Mambilla hydropower contract.
The anti-graft agency said it traced some suspicious payments made by Sunrise Power and Transmission Ltd. to Agunloye’s bank accounts.
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Former President Olusegun Obasanjo also challenged Agunloye to tell Nigerians where he derived the authority to award a $6 billion contract to Sunrise for the Mambilla hydropower project in 2003.
On January 11, Agunloye was arraigned on a seven-count charge bordering on fraudulent award of contracts and official corruption.
He was granted N50 million in bail, while the court seized his passport as one of the conditions.
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Agunloye, through his counsel, Adeola Adedipe, applied for the release of his passport to enable him to travel abroad.
At the last adjourned date, Adedipe said his client needed urgent medical attention abroad.
Some of the documents tendered by the defence lawyer included medical reports from University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, and the NISA Premier Hospital, Abuja.
The defendant also included a letter from the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) and an invitation from a foreign medical analyst, requesting him to travel abroad for an urgent medical evaluation.
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However, the application was opposed by the EFCC, which claimed that the former minister was a flight risk, having amply demonstrated his unwillingness to present himself for trial until he was declared wanted.
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