The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday re-arraigned Femi Fani-Kayode, a former minister of aviation, before a federal high court sitting in Lagos for alleged diversion of N4.9bn.
Fani-Kayode, a member of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s presidential campaign team, was arraigned alongside Nenadi Usman, a former minister of state for finance.
He had been arraigned on June 28, 2016, in the same court before Muslim Hassan, a justice, but objected to being tried before him.
Others listed as defendants during the sitting on Monday were one Danjuma Yusuf and a company, Joint Trust Dimensions Limited.
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They were arraigned on a 17-count charge bordering on money laundering and alleged diversion of N4.9bn.
The former minister was accused of conspiring with other defendants to directly and indirectly retain some amount of money which the EFCC said were proceeds of crime.
One of the counts read that the four defendants were accused of conspiring among themselves to “indirectly retain the sum of N1.5bn which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of the proceeds of an unlawful act to wit: stealing.”
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They were also accused of “indirectly retaining N300m, N400m and N800m, all proceeds of corruption.”
The EFCC counsel said they had allegedly committed the offences between January 8 and March 25, 2015, ahead of the 2015 elections.
The four defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
They also asked that the matter be transferred to Abuja “where the offences were allegedly committed.”
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Rilwan Aikawa, the presiding judge, then reaffirmed the bail earlier granted to them by Muslim Hassan, the former trial judge.
The sitting was adjourned till June 6 and June 9 for the commencement of trial and for ruling on the venue of the trial.
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