BY Taiwo George
A federal high court in Abuja has ordered Murtala Nyako, former governor of Adamawa state and Abdulaziz, his eldest son, to be remanded in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Ikedi Ohakim, former governor of Imo state, was also remanded in the custody of the anti-graft agency.
Evoh Chukwu, the judge, who presided over Nyako’s case, gave the directive on Wednesday, saying him and his son, standing trial over a 37-count charge bordering on corruption and money laundering, should be in detention till Friday when applications for their bail would be heard.
The commission arrested the trio on Tuesday and arraigned them in court the next day.
Nyako had earlier asked the court to restrain the EFCC from arresting him but the court failed to grant his request.
However, when the charges were read on Wednesday, he and his son pleaded not guilty.
Following their plea, counsel to EFCC, Aliyu Yusuf, asked the court for a date for commencement of trial, and to remand the accused persons in prison custody.
This was opposed by Kanu Agabi, the defence counsel. He told the court that while a bail application for the accused persons had been filed, it would be proper for them to be held in EFCC custody.
The justice adjourned the matter to July 10 for hearing on the bail application and ordered that the accused persons be remanded in EFCC custody.
Nyako was accused of siphoning billions of naira from the state’s treasury when he was governor, while his son – the lawmaker representing Adamawa central senatorial district in the 8th assembly – was alleged to have used the influence of his father to transfer money belonging to the government to accounts of five of his personal companies.
Following their refusal to honour the commission’s invitation, EFCC declared the ex-governor and his son wanted.
The commission subsequently arrested the younger Nyako in February while the older was on exile.
Nyako left the country after his impeachment in July 2014 and returned on May 30. He reported at the headquarters of EFCC in Abuja a day after.
Similarly, Ademola Adeniyi, a justice of the high court Abuja, also remanded Ohakim in the custody of the EFCC and adjourned to Thursday, hearing on his bail application.
Ohakim pleaded not guilty to a 3-count charge of money laundering.
He is being prosecuted for making a cash payment to the tune of $2, 290,000.00 ( about N270,000,000.00) , for the purchase of a property at 1098 Cadastral zone A04, Asokoro district, otherwise known as 60, Kwame Nkurumah street, Asokoro, Abuja.
He is also accused of deliberately neglecting to disclose all his assets in the declaration submitted to the commission.
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